It’s really not great when you go for a check-up and you get the ‘you’re going to need a filling’ talk. For people who believe they are taking great care of their teeth, which they usually are, it can be totally soul-crushing. We’re sold the narrative of one set of teeth from a really young and having fillings can often feel like the beginning of the end – but it’s not. Fillings are actually super common and an everyday part of dentistry.
Why Do We Have Fillings?
Fillings are basically there to act as a filler. Just like when we take a nail out the wall and there’s a little dot that needs to be filled and covered before the wall is repainted. It’s a treatment designed to protect our teeth and give us back full function.
Fillings happen when decay has taken hold of part of a tooth, this can be caused by a buildup of plaque or sugar and just not correct cleaning. It’s often the back teeth that need fillings as it’s just really hard to clean those and sometimes we can be doing a really good job but we’ve just missed a little section and it’s had a little infection that’s spread. This is why it’s super important that we are visiting our dentist Navan for regular checkups as only our dentist can see decay in the super early stages through X Rays and Scans.
Fillings are there to prevent further decay, and though they can feel super intimidating at the time, they are there to help you and aren’t something you should be worried about or ashamed of. Most people will have at least one filling during their lifetime, and sometimes it’s even affected by our genetics as to how susceptible we are.
Sign Of Decay
There are a few things you can be looking out for if you are worried about the development of decay. These include pain or discomfort in the tooth, a new sensitivity that appears in one area, a loosening of the tooth, a blackening of the tooth, bleeding gums, swollen or red gums, and high sensitivity to hot or cold foods.
If you begin to experience any of these then you should be contacting your dentist as soon as you can for an appointment.
What Happens During A Filling
I want to really get rid of the filling stigma – just because your great, great aunt had a bad experience ten years ago does not mean you are going to have a bad experience too. Having a filling does not automatically mean you’re going to be in discomfort – science and dentistry have greatly evolved and we have amazing tools to help make fillings as comfortable as possible and in some cases, we don’t even need to use an anaesthetic.
The filling itself involves a deep clean of the infected area and then filling it in with whichever filling substance you and your dentist have decided on. There are lots of options for white fillings, silver gold etc and each comes with a varying price tag.
