Fillings

Signs you may need a filling

Early decay often causes nothing at all, and is found at a check-up or on an X-ray. When it does show itself, it is usually as a twinge with something sweet, cold or hot, a sharp feeling when you bite, food catching in one spot, a rough edge you can feel with your tongue, or a dark spot or hole you can see.

Pain that lingers for minutes after something hot or cold, or that wakes you at night, usually means the decay has got close to the nerve. That tooth may need more than a filling, so have it looked at soon rather than at your next routine visit.

Tooth-coloured fillings, and old silver ones

Composite is a tooth-coloured material that is bonded to the tooth and built up in layers. Because it sticks to the tooth, less healthy tooth usually has to be removed than for a silver (amalgam) filling.

Old silver fillings do not need replacing just because they are silver. They are replaced when they have cracked, started to leak or have new decay around them, or if you want them changed for the look of them and understand what that involves.

Where a cavity is very large, a filling may not be strong enough on its own, and a crown may be suggested instead. If it is, ask why, and what would happen if the tooth were filled instead.

After the appointment

If you had a local anaesthetic, wait for the numbness to wear off before eating or having hot drinks, so you do not bite or burn your cheek or tongue, and keep an eye on children, who often chew a numb lip. A composite filling is set hard before you leave, so you can chew on it once the feeling has come back.

Some sensitivity to cold for a few days, sometimes a couple of weeks, is common after a deeper filling and usually settles. If the tooth feels high when you bite, call the clinic, because the filling may need adjusting. Call too if the pain is getting worse rather than better, lingers after hot or cold, or wakes you at night, because the nerve may need looking at.