FILLINGS

FILLINGS

Overview and Facts

One of the world’s shared problems is tooth decays and cavities. People of all ages are usually prone to these problems, including infants. Tooth decays are also known as caries or cavities. These are the damaged areas that are permanent, which is found on the hard surfaces of your teeth, and these caries usually end up into tiny holes or openings.

Caries or tooth decay are usually caused by a combination of a lot of factors; this includes drinking beverages rich in sugar, eating frequently, eating sweets, and bacteria in your mouth with poor oral hygiene.

To address these problems, dental fillings, also known as cavity fillings, are the most common treatment for this. These filings are used to fill the cavities in your teeth. There is some use of dental fillings, one of them is to fill the holes or openings in your teeth to prevent food particles and bacteria in entering your teeth which prevents further decay of your teeth.

Types and Symptoms

TYPES

There are six classes of dental cavities or caries, also known as the carious lesions, a process that usually occurs that leads to tooth cavitation.

Microcavities or incipient lesions are enamel-limited only and can be prevented without any dental fillings.

These lesions are usually white, dull spots in your teeth, the earliest sign of tooth decay.

The six classes of dental decay that result in cavitation are:

  • Class I – Also called pit-and-fissure lesions that occur in the fissures and pits of teeth.
  • Class II – Your premolars and molars are usually prone to these types of lesions, can be found in the interproximal surfaces of posterior teeth.
  • Class III – These lesions build up in your incisors and canines (does not include the biting edges of the teeth) and usually found in the interproximal surfaces of anterior teeth.
  • Class V – This lesion occurs in your gum line, the build-up of plaque in your gum line are common and can be found on the gum line of both anterior and posterior teeth.
  • Class VI – Can be found on the biting edge of your canines and incisor, also occurs in the cusp tips of your molars and premolars.

SYMPTOMS

Small holes and openings caused by small cavities usually do not show any symptoms. However, you need to have constant dental check-up and evaluation with the help of x-rays to detect such cavities.

If this small cavity is not treated with dental fillings, further decays and enlargement of holes will result with symptoms showing up, this includes:

  • Toothache 
  • Tooth Sensitivity 
  • Tooth Holes 
  • Dark Stains 

Diagnosis & Medications

DIAGNOSIS

Your dentist can detect tooth decay through:

  • Tooth pain and sensitivity
  • Mouth and teeth assessment
  • Dental X-ray result

TREATMENT

Your dentist can treat your dental cavity or caries with dental fillings. These fillings can also be called restoration as this treatment fills the tiny holes and openings in your teeth thus preventing symptoms from appearing as well as further tooth decay.

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