The Five Privileges of Aesthetically Gratifying Tooth-Colored Fillings
You receive the dreaded news that you have a dental cavity during your routine dental exam, and reluctant to return to the dentist for another appointment, you request prompt treatment for the hole in your tooth. Stunning Smiles of Somerset recommends you have tooth-colored fillings to treat the cavity.
Hearing about tooth-colored fillings, you inquire with the dentist how many types of dental fillings are currently available. You receive information you can have silver amalgam, gold, ceramic, glass ionomer fillings for the cavity in your tooth but recommend you receive tooth-colored fillings in a speedy procedure to maintain the appearance of your smile. You delve further, asking for the benefits of tooth-colored fillings to receive the information from the dentist treating you the information mentioned below.
1. The Filling Procedure Is Quick
The tooth filling procedure with composite filling material is quick and painless. The dentist needs less than an hour to treat a couple of cavities. You will receive local anesthesia to numb your gums and teeth around the area of the affected tooth. After the site is entirely numb in approximately 10 to 15 minutes, the dentist proceeds with the treatment.
The treatment begins with the dentist removing the infected tooth material and cleaning the tooth. Next, they apply the tooth-colored resin after ensuring it matches the natural shade of your teeth into the hollow space left by the cavity. Next, the dentist shapes the tooth-colored material to keep your natural bite before hardening the material with a unique curing light. During the process, the dentist works efficiently to reduce the amount of treatment time. For example, the dentist places, cures, and polishes dental fillings in approximately 15 minutes.
2. Natural-looking Fillings Are Aesthetically Pleasing
Unlike silver amalgam and gold fillings used earlier, composite resin fillings blend with your surrounding tooth structure, ensuring no one notices you have a cavity repaired. Whether you laugh, talk or yawn, everyone gets to see your beautiful teeth without any cavity fillings in them.
3. Long-Lasting Nature
Do not have to assume tooth-colored fillings are brittle because if you care for your teeth, gums, and fillings as recommended by the dentist, the filling material in your teeth lasts for over ten years. However, you must brush your teeth twice daily, floss at least once, and visit your dentist for exams and cleanings every six months. Additionally, you must also avoid bad mouth-related habits like chewing on pens, fingernails, and complex objects like ice and hard candies. These habits can encourage your fillings to chip and dislodge.
4. Significant Tooth Structure Removal Unnecessary
The composite resin used when providing tooth-colored fillings bonds to your affected tooth. It indicates that dentists don’t have to remove significant tooth structures like they are familiar with silver amalgam or gold fillings. Instead, these fillings permit dentists to treat the cavity in your tooth conservatively, maintaining a substantial portion of your tooth structure.
5. Mercury-Free Fillings
Silver amalgam fillings leave you concerned about the mercury content in them, a known neurotoxin. Although the FDA has clarified the mercury in silver amalgam fillings as safe and not detrimental to your health, many patients prefer a mercury-free option readily available in the form of composite resin fillings.
The five benefits the dentist informs you about should convince you that these fillings are indeed appropriate for your teeth and encourage you to have the treatment without delaying the matter further.
That you have had a cavity filled with tooth-colored fillings shouldn’t encourage you to neglect your dental hygiene. It helps if you remember the hole in your tooth has created permanent damage that won’t heal by itself. That you received treatment promptly is worthy of mention because you prevented the bacteria in the cavity from causing significant damage by expanding further. You can undoubtedly have holes filled in the future if you develop them with tooth-colored fillings. However, wouldn’t you benefit by merely preventing the bacteria in your mouth from creating cavities? We are confident the fillings you received make you wiser and encourage you to concentrate on caring for your dental hygiene appropriately without exceptions.
You must follow your dentist’s instructions to brush and floss as recommended and schedule six-monthly appointments for cleanings and exams. Besides the above, you must also avoid sticky and starchy foods that remain on your teeth even after brushing and flossing. These tips help you to prevent cavities and the need for fillings of any kind.