The American Dental Association recommends visiting a dentist once a year, but it would be beneficial to make an appointment once every six months to prevent a host of oral problems. Apparently, a habit of keeping a check on dental hygiene would help maintain healthy gums and teeth. It is relatively cheaper to prevent having cavities than to have it taken care by a professional.
Here at Hekmat Dental Care, best dentist Poway, we are devoted to cater to the needs of our patients. Our team of highly skilled dental professionals is dedicated to keep that beautiful smile on your face intact. We aim at providing high-quality services with or without dental insurance.
Dental cleaning, tooth-colored filling, teeth whitening and root canal treatment are among the various services that we provide being a family dentist in Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, California, USA. We encourage our patients to take an informed decision for their concerns.
- About tooth-filling:
A tooth- filling is a procedure performed to restore a damaged or decaying tooth or any part thereof due to cavity. A dentist replaces the affected tooth by filling in single or a combination of materials to repair or restore it. The modern version of tooth-colored filling blends extremely well with your natural teeth leaving you with a perfect smile.
- Different materials:
Many factors are to be considered while deciding the material of filling; like cost of filling material, dentist recommendation, extent of decay and insurance coverage. Following are the materials dental filling are made from:
- Silver Amalgam (Contains mercury)
- Gold
- Tooth-colored, glass and plastic material called composite resin filling
- Porcelain
- Temporary Filling:
Patient might need temporary filling in certain cases, but it might fall or wear out lasting only a month. In such a situation, it is best to schedule an appointment to get your permanent filling, or else the area can be infected and other complication might occur. Following can be reasons for temporary filling:
- After getting root canal
- To let tooth nerve to “settle down”
- More than one appointment is needed
- Emergency dental treatment is required
- The steps involved are as follows:
- With the use of local anesthetic, numbing the area around the tooth to be worked on.
- Followed by a process to remove the spoilt area using a laser or drill or air abrasion equipment.
- Next, after verifying that the area has been completely void of the decay, the dentist will clean the cavity of any bacteria or germs.
- Finally, the space is filled in several layers with the chosen material. Followed by a special light, which assists in hardening the filling in place.
- At the end, the professional will shape and polish the restoration in place while trimming the excess material off.
- The after care:
In order to preserve the filling while practicing better oral hygiene the following care shall be taken:
- Regular dental visitsat least twice a year
- Using a fluoride toothpaste for brushing your teeth
- Developing a routine to floss on a daily basis.
- Making an appointment if any of the below is experienced-
- You notice part of filling is missing or feel a crack in it
- A sharp edge on the filling is noticed
- You observe an extreme sensitivity
- Benefits of choosing tooth-colored filling:
- Durable
Tooth colored filling can be long lasting, if taken good care. Also chewing on inedible objects like nails or pens should be avoided or else your filling can be chipped. This filling can last for more than 10 years.
- Intact Natural Tooth Structure
In gold filling and silver amalgam more tooth structure is removed, in comparison to that in tooth colored filling. The tooth-colored filling will bond together with teeth, making it least intrusive to the tooth structure.
- Less Time Consuming
This procedure is completed within an hour to take care of one or two cavities. After anesthesia is given, it will take around ten to fifteen minutes to numb the area. The cavity is filled using composite resin, which is shaped to maintain natural bite this all is done in fifteen minutes making it quick and painless.
- More Attractive
No one will notice that you had a cavity as tooth colored filling blends with tooth structure, compared to the gold filling and silver amalgam which are visible. Now you can openly laugh or speak without worrying that someone will detect it.
- No Mercury
Tooth colored filling is mercury free. The silver amalgam consists of low amount of mercury, which is toxic in nature. Though mercury does not affect the health, still it is avoided by patients.
Your smile is everything, it brightens up your face. Developing a cavity can damage your beautiful smile; get it fixed right away using tooth-colored filling by Dr. Reza Hekmat, a cosmetic dentist in Rancho Bernado, San Diego. So, make sure toget in touch with a dentist about tooth colored filling and finding if it’s the best fit for your oral health.
