4 Filling Questions

4 Filling Questions Experienced Buffalo Dentist Office

4 Filling Questions

If you have a cavity, you may have a few filling questions that you would like answered. Here is what you should know.

Filling Questions #1 | What Are Fillings Made of?

Many people ask about the type of fillings we use. There are composite fillings. A composite is a tooth-colored filling that usually has a resin and then a glass filler, many little microscopic glass particles. This type of filling has many different shades so that we can match the shade of the tooth. There are also amalgam fillings. Amalgam is the typical filling that’s called a silver filling. The makeup of the amalgam filling is usually about half silver and half mercury. It is mixed, and then bound together, and hardens, and becomes a very suitable filling material. That’s usually the two types of filling materials that are out there.

Filling Questions #2 | Are Mercury Amalgam Fillings Safe?

A lot of times I have patients come in the office and say, “Doctor, I don’t want a silver filling. I don’t want that mercury in my mouth.” I say, well why do you say that to me? Sometimes they read things in the newspaper about the exposure to mercury and the negative health effects on their body. Still, to today’s date, no proven scientific literature that amalgam fillings or mercury fillings are unsafe. It’s still a very good restorative material to use, and in sometime cases we use it. Personally, I do not use it very much but there are sometimes when it would be required to use that time of filling material.

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Filling Questions #3 | How Are Fillings Performed?

Fillings are placed in the teeth usually due to decay. Depending on the amount of decay and where the decay is usually dictates what type of filling and how much tooth structure is involved. Basically, we use local anesthesia, which numbs the area of the mouth so that the patient has no sensitivity when we remove the decay from the tooth. Then, once the decay is removed, proper cleaning of the preparation, and then using, again, the particular filling material and proper placement of the filling, and there we go.

Filling Questions #4 | Is There Pain After a Filling?

Patients should expect some sort of sensitivity after because it is a procedure that is done in the mouth, and it is a surgical procedure. There is sensitivity in the tooth, there is a nerve, and depending on the size of the filling and the type of filling used, patients should expect some sort of post-op sensitivity, but usually it’s very short-lived and not an issue.

If you have any further filling questions, please call our Buffalo dentist office to schedule an appointment today!

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