What are tooth fillings?

Filling can help a lot with a decaying tooth that leaves cavities. Filling is simply getting rid of the part of your tooth that is decaying and forming a cavity. With a filling material of your choice the process is carried out to help prevent further decay. However, fillings can also be used in the repair of cracked or broken teeth.

A closer look at the filling process

The first step dentists take is to keep you composed. This can be done with a local anesthetic that will help you relax.

The anesthetic takes a while to kick in but once it does, the dentist in Santa Monica will use air abrasion equipment, a drill and a laser to aid in the extraction of the decaying part of your tooth. To ensure that the decaying part of your tooth is completely removed, the dentist has to probe and test the affected area.

The presiding step after this is to give you a tooth bath so as to flush out debris and kill bacteria in case your filling ends up falling near the root, it is the work of the Rocklin dentist to insert a liner of glass isonomer, composite resin or any other material that can aid in protecting the nerves in the tooth.

What is the best type of filling?

There are a lot of many fillings that can be used depending on your preference and the money at your disposal to help cater for your health bills.

Gold filling

Gold filling is recommended by many physicians in this field. The filling lasts for a very long time of up to 20 years or longer. Despite its durability, it does not break, corrode or bend on the strain while chewing. On the flip side, the cost of this procedure is very expensive given the current cost of gold and other variable costs like cost of dentist visits that should be at least two visits to ensure the filling is well set on your tooth.

Silver fillings

Another cheaper option is silver if you cannot afford to fill your tooth with gold. Silver is equally strong and durable as gold. Nonetheless, silver has a few demerits like discoloring your tooth giving it a grayish tan. Furthermore, some people may be allergic to this metal and the small amount of mercury included in the silver fillings.

Composite fillings

Majority of people get composite fillings despite the fact that they are not as durable as silver or gold. Their useful life is at most 6 years depending on where they are put. What is interesting about composite fillings is that they almost match the color of your tooth making it hard to tell the difference between a tooth that has been filled from one that hasn’t.