When the dentist does an examination of the teeth, they are looking for different problems that may be occurring within the mouth. One of the main problems is called a tooth cavity. It is very important that a tooth cavity is fixed as soon as possible because the problem will not go away. A tooth cavity is part of the tooth that has decayed. Without treatment the decay will continue to grow and bigger problems can occur such as loss of the tooth.
If the dentist finds a tooth cavity, he or she will take the proper steps to get rid of the cavity from the tooth and prevent it from becoming any bigger. The dentist may or may not take an x-ray of the tooth before fixing the cavity. An x-ray can help the dentist to see how deep the cavity is and determine if it can be repaired. If a cavity gets too deep, the dentist may not be able to fix it so it is important that a patient see the dentist on a regular basis to have these issues addressed.
If the tooth cavity can be fixed, the dentist will clean the area of the tooth in order to see the cavity clearly. He or she can then use WaterLase technology to remove the decayed area of the tooth. WaterLase is a type of dental laser treatment that reduces the use of anesthetic which means no needle! The laser has the capability to precisely remove only the decay without damaging the surrounding teeth. After the decayed area has been removed, the dentist will begin to fill in the hole.
The dentist uses something called a filling to close the area where the tooth cavity was. The material used to fill the tooth is soft and can easily fit within the hole. However, the dentist then uses a light which is designed to harden the tooth filling once it has been put into place. He will test the filling to ensure it is hard enough before continuing onto the next step.
Once the filling material is nice and hard within the old cavity hole, he will then use a sanding tool to get rid of any extra filling material and leave the area nice and smooth. This may be the final step for smaller fillings, however if the filling was very large, the dentist may put a cap over the tooth to ensure that the filling stays in place.
