Dental Fillings
What can dental fillings offer?
- Restoration of badly decayed teeth.
- Diastema closure procedures. This a process where we can close minor spaces between teeth for better appearance and to prevent food impaction in these areas.
- Correction of malformed, discolored or fractured teeth.
Why does dental caries occur?
Dental caries is due to bacteria that feed on the carbohydrates sticking on the surface of the tooth which causes cavities in the teeth that may lead to fracture or pulp exposure that is very painful
How can I protect my-self from dental caries?
You can protect yourself by maintaining your oral hygiene either by yourself or professionally.
- Brush your teeth 3 times a day with a fluoride containing tooth paste.
- Decrease the sugar intake especially the sticky ones.
- Floss at least once a day for interdental food remnants.
- Use a prophylactic mouth wash.
- Visit your dentist every 6 months for regular checkups to remove any caries that has initiated to prevent unpleasant consequences.
What are the types of restorations and what is the different between them?
There are 3 main types of restorations available nowadays:
Composite: This is the famous tooth-colored restoration which is mostly used worldwide.
Glass ionomer: a white fluoride leaching restoration but not esthetic like the composite, but is getting better everyday.
Amalgam: a silver mercury-containing strong restoration which is once was the only restoration available in the dental field. Although it has a shiny silver color when placed, but by time it turns into a dark greyish-black color. It is still considered by some people the strongest filling. For the dentist to place an amalgam restoration, most probably he will need remove unnecessary healthy tooth structure, and this is one of the major drawbacks of this type of filling. Many people may still have amalgam restorations in their mouth but many campaigns are done around the world to encourage people to change them with a composite restoration to avoid mercury toxicity.
Does the composite (tooth-colored) restoration fall-off easy?
Composite restorations come in a soft sticky form to be easily manipulated and shaped inside the tooth. It hardens by exposing it to an ultra-violet light that turns it from a soft consistency to a solid hard one.
Composite is a very sensitive material to liquid contamination before it completely sets. It should be placed into the tooth under complete isolation. If any fluid touches the restoration before it sets, the restoration de-bonds and may fall off. Even worse, bacteria could leak under the restoration and cause recurrent caries beneath it. This is why it is important for the dentist to place what is called a rubber dam around the tooth to be restored before placing the composite restoration.
Instructions after Having a Tooth Filling
- When anesthesia has been used, your lips, teeth, and tongue may be numb for several hours after the appointment. Avoid any chewing until the numbness has completely worn off. It is easy to bite or burn your tongue or lip while numb.
- Children should be observed until the anesthesia has worn off. Due to the strange feeling of the anesthetic, many children chew on the inside of their cheeks, lips and tongue which can cause serious damage.
- It is normal to experience some hot, cold and pressure sensitivity after your appointment for a few days, having the degree of sensitivity subsiding day after day.
- Your gums may be sore for several days. Rinse your mouth three times a day with warm salt water (put half a teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water, rinse and spit) to reduce pain and swelling.
- It is recommended that you take an analgesic before the anesthetic completely wears off. This will help with any swelling or pain at the injection sites where the anesthetic was administered.
- Your new composite fillings are fully hardened before you even leave the office; however, it is wise to chew on the opposite side from the location of the newly placed filling(s) until the anesthetic wears off.
- With silver fillings, you should not chew hard foods or chew directly on the new fillings for the first 24 hours. If possible, chew only on the opposite side of your mouth.
- Once the anesthesia has worn off, if you feel as though any of the teeth we have worked on are hitting first, or your bite feels uneven when you bite down, please give our office a call immediately. This imbalance with your bite may cause further discomfort and should be adjusted.