>A better way of judging is how much stuff your dentist places on 'watch' rather than recommending expensive treatments.
This, I've had the same tooth on 'watch' for a few years. One of the times they showed me the difference, the one on watch has a crack in the enamel but no rot underneath it, vs one with a crack in the enamel with visible staining going down into the tooth. That's one nice thing with a newer dentist, they can actually show you this visual on a giant monitor vs you just having to take their word for it. I'm sure a less conservative dentist would fill any tooth that had any sort of cracked enamel and spend the profits on buying a new boat.
This, I've had the same tooth on 'watch' for a few years. One of the times they showed me the difference, the one on watch has a crack in the enamel but no rot underneath it, vs one with a crack in the enamel with visible staining going down into the tooth. That's one nice thing with a newer dentist, they can actually show you this visual on a giant monitor vs you just having to take their word for it. I'm sure a less conservative dentist would fill any tooth that had any sort of cracked enamel and spend the profits on buying a new boat.