General Dentistry
General Dentistry encompasses various oral health services to prevent, diagnose, and treat dental issues, ensuring optimal dental health and overall well-being.
Dental Fillings
Dental fillings are the best way to treat cavities in your teeth. It’s a quick and simple procedure that you can have done on your lunch break and is extremely common in Australia.
Not only will a filling improve your oral health and avoid further damage to your teeth, but it will also avoid any further pain or discomfort caused by the cavity, allowing you to enjoy a healthier, happier smile.
Dental fillings are no longer the painful and dreaded treatment that they were. Gone are the silver, ugly looking fillings and the pain that went with them. Today, modern dentistry can offer you many alternatives for dental fillings that combine the lasting and permanent strength you need with the aesthetically pleasing look you desire.
At A.L. Dental, we use white filling material, which is a resin base and is tinted to match your tooth colour, we use this material for both posterior and front teeth.
During your routine appointments, our oral hygiene and dentists will check for tooth decay with a visual inspection and x-rays. This is the reason we strongly suggest 6 monthly check-ups and cleans, to avoid any missed decay that has the potential to become a serious tooth infection.
Sometimes the first signs of decay are found at home.
Potential signs that you’ve got tooth decay include:
- Sensitivity when you eat hot, cold, or sugary food or drinks
- An ache around a tooth
- Pain when you bite down
- A hole that you can feel with your tongue or see when you look in a mirror
- Black, brown, or white staining on a tooth
Even if you think you have a cavity, your dentist will still want to book a check up to inspect and confirm the issue. They will then book a second appointment to have the filling done.
The following points describe what to expect during your dental filling appointment:
- Your dentist will inject a local anaesthetic to completely numb the area.
- They will use a drill to remove the decay from the tooth.
- They will fill the cavity.
- They will shape and polish the tooth, so it feels natural to bite onto
- The area will still feel numb for a few hours following the treatment.
- The whole treatment will usually only take 20 to 30 minutes.
- The site may feel a little tender for the next day, so avoid biting down on hard foods.
- Your dentist will check on the filling during your next routine appointment.
Prevent further damage and discomfort: A lot of dental discomfort and damage comes from cavities and dental decay, and a dental filling is a great way to stop the damage and treat the pain.
Quick and easy: Dental fillings are extremely quick and easy. Most people will be in and out within 30 minutes, so it can be completed during a work break.
Long-lasting: With good dental care, dental fillings will generally last for at least a decade. Fillings made from gold can last for even longer, for as much as 20 years or more.