Tooth decay is a common condition that can affect people of any age. It has many causes, such as bacteria, diet, poor oral hygiene and low saliva flow. Tooth decay affects not only your ability to chew but also the appearance of your teeth.
1. What is a tooth filling?
Filling a decayed tooth is a technique that uses filling materials to close the gaps and replace the tooth tissue lost to tooth decay, restoring the tooth to its original shape and size.
2. What happens when tooth decay is not treated in time
Today, filling a cavity is one of the most common dental procedures, because the technique is fairly simple and painless. Yet for various reasons, patients tend to put it off or not have the tooth filled right away. This can lead to the following discomfort or complications:
- Chewing is affected: Tooth decay causes sensitive teeth, which makes chewing uncomfortable. Decay also creates holes in the tooth surface. Food easily gets stuck in the cavity, causing bad breath, and gets pressed into the gums, causing pain when you chew. A large cavity that has destroyed much of the tooth, or a tooth with only the root left, is not strong enough to chew with.
- Risk of infection: Food trapped in the cavity, combined with avoiding chewing on the sensitive side, makes tartar build up easily and increases the risk of infection. With a cavity between two teeth, food gets stuck under the gums, which makes them sore and bleed and increases the risk of gingivitis between the teeth. Decay exposes the dentin, which makes it easier for bacteria to reach the dental pulp. A decayed tooth can break because so much tooth structure is lost, exposing the pulp. When the pulp is affected, it causes toothache, pulp death and pulp infection, and can lead to local or spreading infections that harm your oral and general health.
- Risk of losing the tooth: A tooth that is badly decayed or broken down to the root, or a tooth that has been infected for a long time and cannot be saved, will have to be extracted.
- Appearance is affected: decayed teeth turn dark or black. Together with broken teeth and holes in the teeth, especially in the front teeth, this seriously affects your smile, makes you less confident when talking to people and has a big impact on your daily work.
- Decay in neighboring teeth: Decay between teeth makes food get stuck there. Food that stays trapped for a long time causes decay in the tooth next to it.
3. What to keep in mind after a filling
Before you leave the clinic, the dentist will explain the discomfort you may feel after the filling, what to keep in mind after a filling, and how to chew and clean around the filled tooth. Specifically:
- You may have some discomfort from the local anesthetic, such as: Your face may feel swollen and numb, and your lips, cheeks and even eyes may feel heavy or droopy. This passes as soon as the anesthetic wears off. After the filling, do not chew on the numb side, so you do not bite or chew your lips or cheeks without feeling it, and do not eat or drink anything very hot, so you do not burn yourself while you are still numb.
- Know when you can chew with the newly filled tooth, to keep the filling from coming loose or wearing down. With a composite filling you can chew right away, but with other filling materials you should avoid chewing on that side for about 4 hours.
- Avoid food that is very hot, very cold or very hard for the first few days, so the tooth is not irritated and does not become sensitive or painful.
- Using a toothpick or other hard object to clean between teeth where there is a filling can loosen or break the filling. It is best to clean between your teeth with dental floss, as your dentist shows you. Brush gently to avoid hurting or scratching your gums, wearing down your teeth, or loosening and wearing down the filling.
- Limit strongly colored food and drinks, coffee and tobacco, to keep the filling from discoloring.
Today, fillings are fairly simple and painless, and with good filling materials there is no longer anything for patients to worry about. Make a habit of a dental checkup every 6 months to keep a confident, bright smile.
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