Dental Restorations | Saipan SDA Dental Clinic

Dental Restorations

What is a Dental Filling?

A filling is a way to restore a tooth damaged by decay back to its normal function and shape. When a dentist gives you a filling, he or she first removes the decayed tooth material, cleans the affected area, and then fills the cleaned out cavity with a filling material.

By closing off spaces where bacteria can enter, a filling also helps prevent further decay. Materials used for fillings include a composite resin (tooth-colored fillings), and an amalgam (an alloy of mercury, silver, copper, tin and sometimes zinc).

What happens when you get a filling?

  • The first step when getting a filling is to make sure that you are comfortable throughout the procedure. Our Dentists usually do this by using an anesthetic. A local anesthetic temporarily interrupts communication between the tooth and the brain. We call it “sleepy juice” when dealing with kids because it puts the nerve “to sleep”. That way, if the tooth sends a pain signal, the anesthetic prevents the pain signal from reaching the brain – and you feel no pain as a result.
  • Now that you’re ready for the procedure, the dentist will begin to remove the tooth decay. There are a number of tools that are used to clean out the decayed portion of the tooth.

Next, the dentist will fill the tooth with either the composite or amalgam and make it look like a real tooth again so that you can use it to chew food and speak. After your dentist finishes filling the tooth he or she will have you bite on carbon paper to make sure the filling isn’t too high. If it is, then your dentist will lower the filling with a high-speed handpiece. Finally, if there are any rough spots on the filling, the dentist can use some mild abrasives to smooth the filling and to make it feel smooth to your tongue

 

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