Dental problems of various types are treated by different procedures. Dental filling is one of the procedures of cosmetic dentistry. A dental filling is a restoring material that is used to restore the function, integrity, and morphology of missing tooth structure. A hole that is left by a cavity is filled by a dental filling.
The cavities can be formed in your teeth because of various reasons. They start decaying the middle of the teeth and reaches down the nerve ending. This causes much pain. Therefore the cavity and decay have to be removed. A dental filling therefore includes two things. One is the removal of decay formed in the cavity. The other one is filling the empty hole or cavity with some material.
While removing the decay from the cavity, the dentist must drill into the tooth. The sensation of being drilled is made numb generally by novocine. However, many people get fear of drilling. Conscious sedation is one way of reducing the anxiety and nervousness of patients. They are not conscious during the procedure and hence do not feel anxious. However, dental filling associated with conscious sedation is much expensive.
Once the decay is removed, the actual part of filling comes in. Different materials can be used for filling. Dental amalgam and polymer resins are the most common materials used in the United States. Dental amalgam is a combination of mercury with metal. Composite polymer resin dental fillings are made of plastic dental resin which look normal than the metal ones. These are much durable and stronger. Glass ionomer cements are also used for dental fillings. The procedure of filling is not painful and provides best results.
