Is it possible for cavities to disappear?

I went to a dentist in April of '06. She did such a bad job on 2 cavities that I had, so I never went back to her. This dentist also told me I had 5 cavities on my left side and I was like "Hah, I'm not going back to her so she can drill holes all in my teeth." Yes, I know it wasn't smart to not get those cavities taken care of, but I wasn't in any pain, so I figured I could get them taken care of when I found a new dentist.





In April (this year), one of my wisdom teeth broke, so I was forced to find a new dentist. I found one and he is GREAT! But when he did my x-rays, all he and his assistant found was 2 cavities on my left side. I was really confused. Is it possible for cavities to disappear on their own? Or was the dentist I previously went to just dishonest?

Is it possible for cavities to disappear?
I have worked with many different dentists in 21 years. Some dentists will "watch" an area because the enamel is just starting to change, either in appearance or texture. When the dentist uses the explorer to check if the tooth is sticky, sometimes it can be a deep pit and not a true cavity. The fluoride in your toothpaste and rinses can harden some sticky areas if it is kept clean enough and not washed in a sugary bath (soda pop) all day long. Now on the other hand, some dentists never "watch" an area. They believe you are just watching it get worse. I see both points of view, but normally make my decision after I see how clean the person keeps their teeth. I have seen many patients that said their last dentist found X amount of cavities and we couldn't find any or just one or two. It is a dental mystery I know.
Reply:your previous dentist was dishonest. cavities cant disapear from one day to another because once youre attacked with said cavities they cant go
Reply:It was a bad dentist period. You were smart not to go back. Someone should report her to the ADA.
Reply:Dishonest dentist. Always ask to SEE the x-rays where they say you have the cavities. Everyone alive is dishonest, selfish %26amp; greedy these days. Trust no one but God. Sorry to hear about the wisdom tooth thing. That was the worst pain I've ever experienced in my life....a close 2nd to childbirth.
Reply:Cavities will disappear with their repair, or that tooths removal. I will put my money on dishonesty.
Reply:The same thing happened to me before, except with the same dentist! He said I has 4 cavities that needed to be filled, but I missed the appointment cuz my mom shattered her rotary disk in her shoulder. When I returned to the dentist for a check-up 6 months later, he said I had no caveties.


I assume that the teeth weren't really caveties, but areas that could become caveties soon, but got better (for lack of a better phrase) on their own.
Reply:the other dent est lied to you
Reply:get another opionion
Reply:Cavities cannot disappear. They are damage to your tooth; if they could heal themselves, dentist would not fill them up.
Reply:I always get third and fourth opinions. One dentist I went to said I had six cavities. Another said two. I have learned from hard experience that not all dentists are honest. Cavities never disappear on their own.
Reply:A tooth is basically a big lump of mineral in your mouth. A cavity occurs when bacteria eats away at that mineral, essentially destroying your teeth. It's not impossible for some minerals to essentially 'grow back', but this only occurs when you take really good care of your teeth, and even then this only happens in very minuscule amounts. So unless your dentist saw very small cavities, she was probably lying... or she was completely incompetent.
Reply:The only way a cavity can 'disappear' is if the tooth either rots away to nothing or it gets pulled.


You read that first density right.Good thing you left.
Reply:Wow, there are some real morons answering questions on this site..





Forget pretty much everything everyone else wrote...here is the real answer..





Cavities can appear and disappear...sorta..





If you have a very small cavity in-between your teeth, as viewed on an xray, it can come and go, depending on the size. A small cavity is called an "incipient" lesion. If it is not all the way through the enamel, and you make a very good effort to get in there and floss, the enamel can reminralize and the cavity will essentially "go away."





However, if the cavity is all the way through the enamel, it will not go away, even if you brushed 24/7 and soaked your mouth in fluoride.





So, what happened here? There may be a difference in judgement on what to do with your teeth. If you had a wisdom tooth break, you probably had a huge cavity in it...showing me that you are not doing all that can be done for your teeth. Therefore, that dentist may be a little more aggressive in getting your cavities under control. Whereas the new dentist may still see the cavities, but it giving you a chance to fix them on your own.





There is also the possibility that the second dentist cannot read xrays as well (if they are older, I see it all the time)..and also, xrays will not give consistent answers all the time...if you see a cavity there once...it is probably there still, and the xrays that were taken the second time were not that good...





I would be inclined to trust the first dentist...