Why Do Dental Fillings Deteriorate?

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Your healthy smile hinges on good daily oral care, regular dental checkups and cleanings and even good genetics. But even with the best of care cavities can sneak into your smile. Wear and tear over time, along with bacterial plaque can damage your pearly whites. This is where dental restorations come to the rescue. Dental restorations to remove tooth decay and fill in an otherwise healthy tooth can keep your smiling for years to come. Even so, even your dental restorations will need repairing eventually.

Factors Contributing to Filling Deterioration

–The seal between the tooth enamel and the dental filling can weaken, allowing space for bacterial debris to seep under the filling and decay the tooth. If the decay goes on long enough, it can cause infection of the tooth pulp which can cause an abscessed tooth.

–Pressure on the filling, whether from chewing grinding and clenching of your teeth (also known as bruxism) can cause a filling to chip, crack, and wear down.

–A large filling may not be able to be restored again, depending on the size of the decayed area and whether enough of the tooth remains to support a new filling. This may require crown placement instead.

–An aged filling may fall out due to its size or chewing trauma, or if the cavity wasn’t thoroughly cleaned out and prepared properly before filling.

Dental Filling Restoration

If you have a cavity and require a dental filling, your dentist will 1) remove all decay material, 2) clean the cavity area and 3) fill the cavity. Filling materials may include porcelain, composite resin, silver amalgam and even cast gold. Once the filling restoration is done, your tooth will function better than ever.

If you need a dental restoration, our dentist, Dr. Rachel Meyer is here to help get you smiling again. To schedule your next dental visit, you can reach our dental team in Los Alamos, New Mexico at 505-662-3163 today.