A dentist will give a patient a dental filling as a part of cavity treatment. Dentists will remove tooth decay that damages a tooth’s structure and then fill the resulting hole in the tooth’s surface with composite resin. They can mold this material to suit the tooth’s unique shape and then cure the resin to harden and seal it into place.
The durable material will get your tooth looking and feeling well once again while also protecting the vulnerable spot from further dental damage. But a dental filling will not last forever.
Over time, a filling can wear down for a number of reasons until the protective seal breaks, endangering your tooth. When this happens, you will need a dentist to remove the old filling and replace it with a new one. Read on to learn more about what you can expect from dental filling replacement.
Signs You Need a New Dental Filling
If a dental filling wears down or breaks, you can notice some signs that indicate this damage that will require intervention from a dentist to fix. For instance, if the filling seems loose in its place in the tooth, you may need a new filling. The filling might also appear dark or discolored when it sustains damage.
An old or broken dental filling might make the tooth feel sensitive. If you experience a sharp pain when a food item or other object touches the tooth, this means that underlying nerves in the tooth’s interior are exposed. A filling should shield these nerves. So if you feel this pain, then the filling might no longer be doing its job.
Other types of pain, including a chronic ache, can point to a damaged dental filling. Oral pain of any kind is not normal. Give your dentist a call if you notice a change or discomfort in your smile, especially near an old filling.
A dentist can tell if your filling requires replacement during an oral exam at a routine check-up. So make sure you attend these appointments as recommended.
Treatment to Replace Your Dental Filling
If you need to replace an old dental filling, the dentist begins the treatment by removing the original fixture. They provide you with a local anesthetic so that you do not feel any discomfort during this process.
Removing the old filling is easy for your dentist with the proper tools. The dentist evaluates the tooth’s health to ensure it does not require further restoration before they continue with replacing the filling.
They use composite resin to give you a new filling if the tooth is otherwise healthy. However, if your tooth sustained more extensive structural damage, it may need a fixture that can offer more restorative benefits. A dental crown, for instance, will cover the entire surface of a tooth, offering more help for the tooth when a filling is not enough.
You can protect your dental filling and expand its lifespan when you take proper care of your oral health. This means avoiding nail-biting and other poor oral habits while sticking to a good oral hygiene regimen.