585 Main St.
Chatham, NJ 07928
Phone: (973) 701-7777
Keeping Our Patients Safe

Keeping Our Patients Safe

Dear Friends:
I am excited to announce that we are being allowed to see patients again. We will be opening on Weds. June 3rd. We have made improvements to keep you and the staff safe. We would like to ease your concerns about coming to the office.

Click here for our  new office safety protocol

© All photographs on this site are of Dr. Allyson K. hurley's patients and represent her work and her photography.

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I moved here from Connecticut in July, so I haven’t had time to thoroughly search out a dentist like I want. I’ve had lower jaw and tooth back on the back left side of my mouth for two weeks. The pain comes and goes. I went to a nearby dentist who did an x-ray. She said that a molar that already has a filling in it has a large cavity. She recommends pulling the tooth and replacing it with a dental implant.

Does this sound right? I had no indication that all of this was happening with the tooth because the pain just started two weeks ago and it comes and goes.  Thanks. – Victoria

Victoria – If the pain in your tooth just started, the tooth has only recently become infected. If the tooth cannot be saved, it would be more likely that you would have felt pain months ago. And an x-ray would not be required to see the damage to the tooth. It would be clearly visible, and normally, you would have lost the filling in the tooth long ago.

It is best to seek a second opinion without telling the second dentist about the diagnosis from the first dentist. Your independent second opinion will help you make a decision about the correct treatment for your tooth.

This blog post is sponsored by New Jersey dentist Dr. Allyson Hurley.

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I recently had one of my wisdom teeth removed because of a cracked filling. My dentist has suggested I have the others removed as well, kind of as a preventative. Their fillings are fine, so I’m not sure I want to do that. What do you recommend?

Francis M.- Florida

Francis,

I rarely recommend an unnecessary tooth removal. If your wisdom have erupted properly, and it sounds like they have, I’d let them alone. Even if the fillings crack, there are other options. If you’ve had your fillings for a while they are probably amalgam (commonly called silver) fillings. These are mostly made of mercury, so some patients opt to have them replaced with mercury-free composite fillings. These are stronger than their amalgam counterparts and less likely to crack. This will keep you from another extraction. Not all dentists know how to do composite fillings, so you’ll want to find a qualified dentist.

This blog is brought to you by top New Jersey dentist Dr. Hurley.