Improving Your Dental Care

How to Care for a New Dental Filling

Going to the dentist for a dental filling is somewhat standard in dentistry. People of all ages develop decay on their teeth and might need fillings for these teeth. If you are preparing for a dental visit to get a filling, your dentist will probably give you some instructions for caring for the filling. Here are several tips you can follow after getting a cavity to help you care for it.

Use Caution While Your Mouth Is Numb

When a dentist performs this routine procedure, they must begin by numbing your mouth. They do this to prevent you from feeling any pain during the procedure. When they finish the procedure, your mouth will still feel numb. The numbing might last for several hours afterward, and you must use caution during this time. It is easy to inadvertently bite your cheek while your mouth is numb, and you will need to try to avoid harming yourself during this time.

Eat Only Soft Foods

For the first day or two, you might want to limit yourself to eating soft foods only. The filling might feel awkward afterward. If you want to protect the filling and the tooth, you can do this by eating soft foods. If you eat hard or crunchy foods, it could loosen the filling. The filling needs time to settle in place, and eating soft foods for a day or two can help.

Monitor the Way Your Teeth Touch

Once your numbing wears off, you might want to monitor the way your teeth touch. Dentists try to ensure that fillings are the right size, but sometimes a filling can be slightly too big. If you feel like your teeth rub together too much from this filling, contact your dentist. Your dentist can grind a small portion of the filling off to decrease its size.

Expect Some Sensitivity

It is quite normal for a tooth with a new filling to feel sensitive for a few days. Some people even feel some sensitivity for a few weeks. A tooth that goes through this procedure goes through trauma. This trauma can leave it feeling sensitive for a short while. If the sensitivity does not go away after a few weeks, you might want to contact your dentist to determine if this is normal.

Dentists remove decay and offer fillings every day. This procedure is one of the most common ones that dentists provide. If you have questions about your teeth, contact a family dentist today.


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