Dental Fillings

The most common treatment for a cavity is a dental filling. This treatment involves your dentist removing tooth decay from your tooth and filling the hole with dental material used to fill cavities. Depending on the kind of filling you’ve chosen, there are 2 main ways to fill a cavity:

These fillings are placed directly into your tooth after your dentist has cleaned out the decay. First, your dentist may give you a local anesthetic (or freezing) so you do not feel any discomfort. The dentist will take out all of the decay from the tooth using a drill. The hole is then shaped and filled. Direct materials like amalgam and composite resin harden quickly. For composite fillings, your dentist puts a bonding material (or glue) inside the cavity. Composite resin is applied in thin layers. Each layer gets hard with the help of a special light that your dentist holds over the tooth. When the last layer of the filling is hard, your dentist shapes the filling so that it looks and feels natural.

Otherwise known as inlays and onlays. During you visit, your dentist may first give you a local anesthetic (freezing) so you don’t have any discomfort. Your dentist will then remove the decay from the tooth using a drill. Next, using CEREC technology, a digital impression is made and a porcelain filling is then made to fit your tooth. With this technology, all this is done in 1 appointment!