Dental Fillings Restorative Treatments to Repair Damaged Tooth Surfaces
A type of restorative dentistry treatment helpful for repairing minimal tooth decay, fractures, or damaged tooth surfaces is dental fillings. The filling materials used to restore teeth include silver amalgam, porcelain, and composite. The filling materials are used by the dentist near you to even out tooth surfaces to enable better chewing and biting.
Enamel loss is a common element of tooth decay resulting in sensitivity. In most cases, the sensitivity caused by enamel loss significantly improves or is eliminated after an appropriate dental filling material is placed in the tooth. However, sometimes the extent of the tooth decay or damage makes it necessary for the tooth to require alternative treatments such as dental crowns, dental implants or bridges, and root canals.
How Do You Recognize You Need Dental Fillings?
The optimal way to determine whether tooth decay affects you is to visit the dentist in West Palm Beach, FL, for six-monthly exams and cleanings. The dentist inspects your teeth using dental probes besides taking an x-ray to decide the extent and the exact spot of the cavity and decay.
After determining the requirement of a filling, the dentist advises you of your options for it to seal the cavity and prevent further decay and damage to your tooth. After considering your medical history, location of the hole, aesthetic needs, biting forces, durability, cost, and the number of visits required besides your preference dental fillings in West Palm Beach, FL, determine the optimal filling option for you. They also consider whether you need direct or indirect fillings with inlays or Onlays created in dental laboratories or in-office with the help of CAD/CAM technology.
If the cavity is repairable using direct fillings, dental fillings near you complete the procedure immediately. The affected tooth area receives local anesthesia to numb it for the dentist to restore the decay or damage. Dentists use a hand drill to remove the damage and clean the space eradicating any bacteria or debris before completing the restoration.
Are Dental Fillings Durable?
When getting your teeth filled, the question foremost in your mind would be how long do dental fillings last. Dental filling materials like silver amalgam and gold are incredibly durable and last for 15 years or more with proper dental care. You can even have porcelain or composite fillings in your teeth if your aesthetic appearance concerns you. However, you must remember porcelain or composite fillings are not durable like metals and require replacements in about five to seven years. Composite fillings are also prone to leakages making them susceptible to decay faster.
Dental Filling After-Care
After you have your tooth restored and filled, the West Palm Beach dentist will discuss techniques you must adopt to prevent decay from forming under or around the filling and your remaining teeth.
Brushing twice daily with fluoride toothpaste, using dental floss or an interdental cleaner to remove plaque buildup at least once a day is recommended. In addition, you must schedule six monthly appointments with your dentist and hygienist for dental exams and cleanings. Considering your risk of tooth decay and cavities, the dentist might suggest the placement of dental sealants to prevent plaque buildup and corrosion. They might also recommend using fluoride mouth rinses as an additional preventive measure.
Diet and nutrition also affect your oral health. Therefore it is incredibly essential for you to maintain a balanced diet by limiting your intake of sugary foods and beverages and frequently snacking between meals.
Are Dental Fillings Expensive?
Here again, the type of material you choose to have your teeth filled will determine the cost of the filling. In addition, your geographical location, the dentist’s experience, and the number of tooth surfaces needing fillings also need consideration when calculating the costs of dental fillings.
The prices for silver amalgam fillings are $ 110-$ 275 per tooth. The costs for composite resin fillings are calculated according to the number of tooth surfaces receiving the filling material, and the prices for them are $ 135-$ 325 per filling. It helps if you remember you may have one tooth affected by decay while having other teeth with damages on their surfaces. Therefore, if you need all your teeth repaired in one sitting with composite fillings, you can expect to pay higher prices for the dental filling treatment.
Dental fillings aren’t just for cavities in your tooth but are also helpful for repairing damaged tooth surfaces. Therefore if you need them over your teeth, consider contacting an experienced dentist to ensure you receive suitable treatment when restoring your teeth.