Cavity Dental Filling - Roots Wellness Clinic

Dental Filling

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DENTAL FILLING

What is Cavity?

Cavities are permanently damaged areas in the hard surface of your teeth that develop into tiny openings or holes that most of the times do not have any symptoms initially. As the tooth starts to decay, you might feel few symptoms like food getting stuck in holes in teeth & feeling sensitive. You can also notice some dark spots and white patches on the tooth surface. You may feel mild sensitivity while eating sweet or cold food

What happens to untreated cavity?

Every cavity grows bigger & at some point reaches the space where nerve resides. This ends up causing tooth-aches & ultimately an infection also known as dental abscess.. Eventually aggravated pain, swelling, severe tooth ache, mobility of tooth & if left untreated, loss of tooth.

What causes cavity?

Cavities can be caused by bacteria, drinking soft drinks, juices and diets full of sugar. Brushing too hard can be the cause as well.

When the tooth is decayed it needs to be treated. In dental restoration or dental filling, a restorative material is used to restore function, integrity, & decay morphology of the missing tooth structure. The structural loss typically results from caries or external trauma like fractures or chipping.
The treatment includes removal of decay which leaves behind a cavity that needs to be filled with a filling material so that further decay to the tooth can be prevented. The most common age old filling material is silver amalgam and and widly used composite resin.
The age old metallic looking non-tooth colored silver amalgam filling has now been replaced by the composite fillings for its compatibility and aesthetic look.

It has many more advantages as compared to the silver fillings which makes it a material of choice by most dentists and patients worldwide. An advantage of composite restorations is that they have a bond with the tooth structure which requires minimal cutting of the tooth as compared to silver fillings, thus preserving the natural healthy tooth structure.

Need for Dental Filling?

If you have a decay, it is extremely important to get fillings done because if the decay is left untreated, then slowly it starts exposing the dentine below the enamel & eventually involving the pulp of the tooth causing an infection. The tooth then needs to undergo Root Canal Treatment to preserve the tooth structure. If left untreated, the tooth may have to undergo tooth extraction.

AFTER CARE

Tea, Coffee, Cigarette Smoke and other such substances stain the resin.
To prevent or minimize staining, avoid eating or drinking such type of food & drinks during the first 48 hours after any composite procedure.
Before you start chewing, make sure that the anesthesia has worn off
Avoid hard or sticky food for a few days
If you have a habit of grinding your teeth, then make sure to use a mouth guard to protect your fillings
Maintain a good oral hygiene routine like cleaning, brushing your teeth twice a day, using a mouthwash and flossing