Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Cavities without pain, early enamel damage, dark spots, filling materials and when a filling needs replacing.
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
A cavity treatment plan you can understand before saying yes
A cavity plan you can say yes to names each tooth and surface, says how far the decay has gone (enamel only, into dentin, near the nerve), explains why some lesions are…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
How a dentist decides whether a tooth is restorable
The dentist weighs how much sound tooth is left above the gum and how it is distributed, whether the root and the bone around it are healthy, whether a crack runs below…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Can you get cavities even when you brush every day?
Yes, you can. Brushing lowers risk but does not remove it, because cavities depend on several things at once: how often sugars and acids reach the teeth, how much saliva…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Why dry mouth changes your cavity risk
Saliva protects teeth by washing away food and sugars, neutralizing acid, supplying minerals that repair early enamel damage, and carrying fluoride. When there is less…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Do frequent snacks matter more than one sweet dessert?
For cavity risk, frequency usually matters more than a single portion. Each time sugar reaches plaque, bacteria produce acid and the tooth surface loses minerals for a…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
How long does numbness usually last after a filling?
Numbness after a filling usually wears off over a few hours. How long depends on which anesthetic was used, whether it contained a vasoconstrictor, how much was given…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Why some teeth need a filling and others need an onlay
A filling is placed soft directly into the prepared tooth and hardened in the mouth. An onlay is made outside the mouth, milled or laboratory-made, to fit the tooth and…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Can a cavity form under an existing filling?
Yes. The filling material cannot decay, but the tooth around and beneath it can. New decay most often starts at the margin where filling meets tooth, especially near the…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Why does a new filling feel too high?
A filling that feels high usually means its chewing surface meets the opposing tooth a fraction earlier than your other teeth, so that tooth takes the first and heaviest…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Can you eat immediately after a tooth-colored filling?
A tooth-colored (composite) filling is hardened with a curing light before you leave, so the material itself is set and the usual reason to wait is numbness, not the…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
What makes a filling crack or wear out?
Fillings fail mainly in two ways: new decay at the edge, the most common long-term reason, and fracture of the filling or the tooth around it. Long-term studies of…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Do small cavities always need to be drilled?
No, not always. Whether a small cavity needs drilling depends on whether the surface has broken down (cavitated or not), whether the lesion is active, where it sits, and…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
What is recurrent decay around a dental restoration?
Recurrent (secondary) decay is a new cavity that starts in natural tooth at the margin where a filling, inlay, onlay or crown meets the tooth. The restoration itself…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Why cavities between teeth can be hard to see
Decay between teeth starts on the contact surfaces just below where two teeth touch, a spot that a mirror, light and even a probe cannot reach, and enamel has no nerve…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Can adults benefit from dental sealants?
Sometimes. A sealant is a thin resin or glass ionomer coating bonded into the deep grooves of a back tooth to keep plaque out. Most research and public-health programs…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Root surface cavities: why exposed roots need different attention
Roots are covered by cementum and dentin, not enamel, and both are softer and dissolve at a weaker acid level than enamel. Once gum recession exposes a root it can decay…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
What a dentist checks before replacing an old filling
Before replacing an old filling of any material, a dentist looks for a reason, not a birthday: decay at or under the edges, a fracture of the filling or the tooth, an…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Repairing a filling versus replacing it completely
When a filling has a localized defect, such as a chipped corner, a small area of marginal decay or a worn edge, and the rest of the restoration is sound and well bonded…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Do you need a filling for a small chipped tooth?
Not always. A chip confined to enamel with a smooth, non-sensitive edge may need only polishing or observation. A chip that exposes dentin, feels sharp or sensitive…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Tooth-colored filling materials: the questions worth asking before you choose
Three families of material are usually called "tooth-colored": resin composite, placed soft directly into the tooth and bonded, usually in one visit; glass ionomer, a…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Delaying a recommended filling: what usually changes, and how fast?
A cavity that has broken through the enamel does not heal on its own. It usually keeps growing, often painlessly, and the longer it waits the more tooth structure is…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Early enamel damage versus a cavity: why treatment can differ
Early enamel damage and a cavity are two stages of the same process, which is why the treatment differs. Early damage means acid has drawn minerals out of the enamel…
- Cavities and tooth-colored fillings
Can You Have a Cavity Without Tooth Pain?
Yes, and most cavities start exactly that way. Enamel, the outer layer of the tooth, has no nerve supply, so decay confined to enamel usually causes no sensation. Pain…