Fillings Specialist

What is a dental filling?

Have you ever stopped to think about how incredible your teeth are? They remain with you throughout your life, serving as incredibly durable and useful body parts to help you chew and digest your food, by no means a gentle activity. 

Sometimes even your strong teeth can become damaged or diseased from an injury, excessive tooth grinding, a cavity, or other types of dental disease. When this happens, they can lose their strength and ability to function, as well as their appearance. 

Dental fillings can be used to restore a diseased, decayed, or damaged tooth. Essentially, a filling involves removing the diseased portion of your tooth, cleaning it out, and then refilling the area with a strong, durable, tooth-like substance that serves to restore the integrity and appearance of your tooth. 

What are dental fillings made out of?

Today, a variety of materials are used to create dental fillings. These include:

• Gold
• Silver
• Porcelain
• Glass ionomer
• Plastic
• Composite resins

The type of filling depends on your needs. The team at First Smile Dentistry works with you to create the specific treatment and outcome you’re looking for.

What can I expect at my appointment?

Initially, you discuss the procedure with the professionals at First Smile Dental and ask any questions you may have. If it’s determined that you need a filling, your dentist numbs the area surrounding the tooth with a local anesthetic. 

The first step is to use a special instrument to remove all the decayed or diseased portions of your tooth. After doing so, they probe the tooth to make sure there are no more diseased portions left. 

Next, the team thoroughly cleans your tooth to prepare it to receive the filling and install the filling material. Depending on the material used, several additional steps may be needed to match the filling to your actual tooth color. 

Each layer of filling added is hardened using a special light. Once the filling is fully installed, the team shapes and polishes it so it appears just as a normal tooth. 

To learn more about tooth fillings and whether they’re right for you, call or go online today to schedule your first appointment with the team at First Smile Dental.