Dental Restoration
A dental restoration or dental filling is a dental restorative material used to restore the function, strength and shape of the teeth. The structural loss typically results from tooth decay or trauma. It is also lost intentionally during tooth preparation to improve the aesthetics or the strength of the intended restorative material.
There are a number of different filling materials, including:
- amalgam (silver coloured)
- metal (silver coloured)
- composite fillings (tooth coloured)
- glass ionomer (tooth coloured)
- gold (gold coloured)
- porcelain (tooth coloured).
- zirconia (tooth coloured)
What is the types of dental restoration treatment?
These days, thanks to a variety of options for dental restoration, you have many choices for repairing, worn, decayed, damaged or missing teeth and restoring a healthy and beautiful smile. Depending on the nature of your problem, we will perform one of two types of dental restorations:
- Direct. Direct tooth restoration involves placing a filling into a prepared tooth cavity immediately. This procedure can be done in a single office visit. We will give options from a variety of filling options based on the type and location of the filling. For example, glass ionomer cement are often used for replacements near the tooth root or other areas not subjected to heavy pressure from chewing.
- Indirect. Indirect tooth restoration involves customized tooth replacements in the form of crowns, veeners, onlays, inlays, or bridges.
- A crown covers the entire chewing surface of a tooth,
- A veneer covers the facial surface of a tooth
- An inlay lies within the cusps of the tooth
- An onlay covers and one or more cusp tip, including part of the chewing surface.
- A dental bridge replace the missing teeth by by joining an artificial tooth permanently to adjacent teeth
An indirect tooth restoration will require more than one office visit because it must be fabricated in a lab. Crowns, veneers , inlays , onlays, bridges can be made from a variety of materials. Gold is still used for some inlays, but for someone concerned about white teeth, porcelain, zirconia and tooth-colored composite resins are other options.
What we will do during the treatment?
First, the dentist will check your teeth thoroughly. He will ask you to whether use a local anesthetic to numb the area around the tooth to be filled or not. After that, preparing the tooth for placement of restorative material or materials. The process of preparation usually involves cutting the tooth with special dental burrs, to make space for the planned restorative materials, and to remove any dental decay or portions of the tooth that are structurally brittle. If permanent restoration cannot be carried out immediately after tooth preparation, temporary restoration may be performed.
What are the risks and side Effects?
All dental restoration such as porcelain, silver amalgam, composite fillings, etc are associated with the following risks and side effects:
- Sensitivity: Some patients experience sensitivity to hot and cold in the weeks following the procedure.
- Pain: Some patients experience pain when biting down or applying pressure to the teeth in the days following the procedure.
- Re-treatment: The dentist will permanently remove damaged areas of your natural teeth and fill it in with a synthetic material. Eventually, dental restoration that is used to fill in this space will wear down and need to be replaced. Depending on the usage and the size of the remaining tooth structure.
What should you do after dental restoration?
- Although the composite is already hardened, you should avoid chewing heavily on your new restorations for 24 hours.
- All tooth colored composite restorations will pick up some staining or discoloration over time – usually from tobacco, coffee or tea. The new generation of materials we have used on your teeth tend to stain much less than those previously used. Daily brushing and flossing will also help to decrease the staining tendency.
- Decay can still develop around the edges of bonded restorations, and your gums will be become inflamed if plaque is not removed daily. So once again we emphasize the value of meticulous daily oral hygiene so as to protect the investment you've made in your teeth. Normal brushing will not deteriorate or damage bonded restorations.
