My dentist says I have chipped off the enamel on my last molar on bottom right side. No sign of cavity so she wants me to try and live with the pain until I can build up the enamel in that area. Has anyone heard of such a thing ?
from the Merck manual "If decay is halted before it reaches the dentin, the enamel can repair itself"

Hi Tony,

There maybe something to what you read. I got tricked into getting 9 fillings through a process called air abrasion where they fill little cavities -- guess what after a I got it done all the dentists I saw after told me it was not necessary. THe dentist that did it saw a little brown and said he didn't know "how deep it went -- i.e. enamel or dentin. Consequently I got these microfillings which ruined my bite and caused irreversible damage. Anyway, if the cavity is in the enamel it may repair itself or take a really, really long time to hit the dentin. In my case the dentin is so strong(from X-rays) that it didn't even make a difference for the fillings. BUt the dentists at first thought that because the fillings were so small they appeared to be in the enamel and they did tell me if the cavities are in the enamel and if one has average to good bone structure teeth -- the fillings are not necessary. It is because the enamel can remineralize as they call it(it is very good self-repair abilities).

After my bad dental experience unless you are in pain -- when it's not broke don't fix it.

Hear, Hear! I agree with Antoni whole-heartedly on this issue...if it ain't broke, don't even go looking to fix it, especially if it's dental in nature. My dentist said basically the same thing as yours, he went drilling into what he thought was a small cavity; it turned out to be a tetracycline stain, and he left it alone after applying a small amount of sealant to it so that it would be protected until it actually regenerated. Don't worry a lot about it, but do watch it until you aren't feeling the sensitivity so much.