Tooth filling: How does it work?

While the level of dental care that exists nowadays has made cavities far less common than they used to be most people will still get them from time to time. That means that it will be necessary to have the tooth filled. Understanding what is going on when the dentist is filling your teeth will help to make the procedure less frightening, at least for some people.

A tooth filling usually becomes necessary when a cavity develops in the enamel of the tooth. This occurs because of tooth decay which is the result of not properly brushing your teeth. If it becomes necessary to have a tooth filled. The first thing that the dentist will have to do is remove the decayed area. The reason that he does this is so that he can have a solid foundation on which to put the filling. If the filling is attached to an area that is decayed it won't stay in place. The most common way to remove the decayed area is with a drill.

Anybody who has been to the dentist is familiar with the drill that the dentist uses. This is a very high speed drill that allows him to be very precise in what he removes. Before he starts drilling the dentist will usually give you a local anaesthesia to numb the area. Strictly speaking this is not required in most cases since the outer layer of tooth has no nerves there should be no pain. However since he will likely have to expose the nerves on the inside of the tooth there is a chance that they may be touched so the anaesthetic is given to be safe.

In recent years lasers have started to replace drills as a way to remove the decayed area of the tooth. Most patients prefer this since it allows for a more precise removal of decay. This means that it is not usually necessary to use anaesthesia which means no shot. Patients also tend to be more comfortable not having to hear the high pitched sound of the drill. Unfortunately there are not a lot of dentists who use lasers, mainly because of their high cost and the fact that they can only be used in a limited number of situations.

Once your dentist has removed the decayed area of your teeth he is going to have to put a filling in. These days most fillings are made of composite materials since they hold in place better allowing the dentist to drill out less of the tooth. The composite materials are also safer since there are no harmful side effects from their use. In some cases you may still found that silver or gold are being used to fill teeth but this is becoming less and less common.