Dental Treatment including Fillings

The decay inside your tooth has been cleaned and the causative bacteria and weakened tooth structure have been removed and will be replaced with a biocompatible tooth-coloured filling.

What to Expect After your Treatment

Numbness

■ If your tooth was numbed, please be careful not to eat or chew anything until that numbness wears away, but once the numbness wears off, you can eat straightaway. You may like to start with soft foods.

■ It is a strange sensation when the numbness is wearing off, but please do be aware that excessive biting and chewing of the lips and tongue can cause ulcerations or other damage to your teeth, lips, tongue, or gums while they are numb. Please watch children very closely.

Sensitivity and Tenderness

■ It is somewhat normal to feel some discomfort and tenderness in the treated area over the next few days. You may also feel some tenderness in your jaw from keeping it open for an extended period of time.

Deep filling

■ Sometimes if the health of your pulp (nerve) is very poor, some medication is placed closest to the pulp in order to try to save the pulp and treatments are done over two visits.

■ Despite this, sometimes the nerve may still not survive and the tooth may eventually need to be root treated or extracted.

■ There will be a temporary material used to seal the access point. This may wear away to some degree before the next visit.

Eating

■ If your tooth is mid-treatment, whenever possible, try to chew on the opposite side from the tooth that has been treated until you have a final filling placed. Until that time, your tooth is still weakened and could fracture.

■ Please avoid chewing any sticky or hard foods around the treated tooth to avoid dislodging the temporary material or fracturing the tooth.

Fine-tuning the Bite

■ We check the bite, how your teeth come together, very closely while you are at the practice.

■ Once in use and during the settling in phase, the bite may occasionally in some people, feel high and that the filled tooth is hitting before the other teeth. This may also cause a tooth to be rather temperature-sensitive and sore.

■ We will be happy to see you again in a few days for further fine-tuning to make your bite more comfortable and harmonious.

Antibiotics

■ If we have given you a prescription for some antibiotics, please complete the course of antibiotics per the directions.

■ Antibiotics have to be in your system for a specified amount of time to be successful. If you stop taking them before the prescription states, your tooth may become infected.

■ Please be aware that antibiotics may interfere with the effectiveness of oral contraceptives (birth control pills).

Pain relief

■ If necessary, we recommend you take something for pain relief within one hour of leaving Artiste Studios, before the anaesthesia subsides. Ibuprofen 400mg is recommended, unless you have a medical condition that precludes Ibuprofen.

■ Paracetamol 1000mg is an alternative pain reliever, though it does not contain anti-inflammatory properties.

■ For more severe discomfort the above medications can be alternated every 2-3 hours (400mg Ibuprofen, wait 2-3 hours, then 1000mg Paracetamol. Wait 2-3 hrs, 400mg Ibuprofen, and so on)

■ Do not exceed the recommended dosages, and do not take any of the medications on an empty stomach.

Please call Artiste Studios if

■ You are experiencing symptoms more intense or of longer duration than those described above.

Taking Care of Your Teeth

All dental treatment will need to be replaced, and as a guide teeth with fillings and dentures will usually eventually need to be replaced in 2-5 years; veneers, crowns, and bridges 5-10 years. They can last a long time with proper care; practise good oral hygiene, including brushing, flossing, regular checkups and cleanings.

We recommend you come in for follow-ups during annual examinations that may include taking x-rays of the teeth.