Fillings: The Fundamentals

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you get a cavity. A cavity most commonly requires a subsequent filling. A filling helps prevent tooth decay the cavity causes that can lead to bone loss and other complications. A filling will also help relieve you of the pain caused by a cavity. After visiting your dentist to receive a filling there are some special steps you should take in caring for the restoration.

Post-procedural Pain

Immediately following the filling of a cavity you may experience some sensitivity in the tooth. You might feel pain when exposing the teeth to pressure, extreme temperatures or sweets. Avoid these things, know that some degree of pain is to be expected and take an over-the-counter pain medication to remedy any other pain you experience.

Lasting Pain

If you continue to experience pain or discomfort in the filling after more than a few days following the procedure let your dentist know. Pain for longer than a few days could be a sign that something is wrong. Often times pain in a filling is a sign that the filling is too high. If this is the case seeing your dentist to reduce the height of the filling should alleviate the pain.

Galvanic Shock

If your filling is metal and in contact with another piece of metal in your mouth (either or crown or other filling) it can cause you to experience galvanic shock. This should feel like a very sharp pain or shock right when you bite down and your teeth come in contact with one another.

Caring For Your Filling

While a filling doesn’t require a lot of longtime care, you should take small steps to ensure that your filling lasts.

• Avoid hard candies or foods that can break or crack a filling. Immediately upon noticing any sort of pain or noticeable gap in between the filling and your tooth, call your dentist to have the filling checked.

• If you feel that your new filling is the first thing to hit when you bite down, or your bite feels imbalanced or unnatural in any way, ask your dentist to take a look at it. When a filling is positioned this way it is more likely to crack under your bite.

If you are experiencing pain that could possibly be attributed to a cavity call Dr. Arzegar of Lifetime Smiles today and schedule an appointment.