Tooth gap-filling or Tooth filling is a dental procedure that is used to restore a lost tooth structure which might have decayed due to cavity or trauma. Usually, a decayed tooth gives rise to a hole that needs to be filled up with a dental filling to prevent it from further decay. A dental filling is therefore used to repair a broken, cracked or fractured tooth and stop it from crumbling off due to some unusual dental habits like teeth grinding, biting nails, etc. If you are in and around Pune and want to get in touch with one of the best teeth filling in Pune, then you can choose the Lifeberries Healthcare Clinic.When a tooth is decayed or damaged, that portion of the tooth is removed and replaced with a permanent restoration or filling material known as a tooth filling or tooth restoration. This is done to prevent further damage in the tooth structure and to restore its original form, function, and aesthetics.

The tooth filling material can be made of gold (mostly outdated), silver amalgam, glass ionomer cement or ceramic. All fillings have their own set of pros and cons, which need to be taken into account along with patient considerations before determining the type of tooth filling material to be used in a particular case.

A few years ago, silver amalgam was the most common type of dental filling material that was used. But its main disadvantage was that it was easily visible in the mouth and not aesthetic in appearance. With an advance in dental technology, numerous types of dental fillings can be done on your teeth. The different types of filling materials are:

• Silver amalgam: Used earlier as the most common dental filling material. Although amalgam filling has good strength and can withstand chewing pressure it is not aesthetic to look at.
• Composite resin: It is the most commonly used dental filling material today. The colour matches the natural shade of the tooth, and it also has good strength to withstand chewing pressure.
• Glass ionomer cement: It is ideal for small cavities. Although more aesthetic than silver amalgam, it is still visible in the form of a white patch on the tooth surface. Also, it does not have a very good strength to withstand chewing pressure in the molar area and is, therefore, most often used in the front teeth.
• Ceramic filling: These are glass-like filling. It prevents further decay in the tooth and resembles the natural tooth color. However, these types of fillings are susceptible to cracks and therefore not used in molar teeth.
• Resin ionomer fillings: These types of fillings are mostly used in milk teeth and non-chewing teeth. It may contain fluoride to prevent further decay of the tooth.

Different type of filling is suitable for a different type of tooth and depending on the amount of decay in the tooth. For example, a composite filling is preferred over a ceramic filling in the molar teeth, for a small front tooth filling glass ionomer cement is preferred.

Your dentist will guide you about the different types of filling materials and what is best suited for your teeth.

The first step is to remove the decay from the teeth using a drill, air abrasion instrument or laser depending on the expertise of the dentist, the monetary investment in that equipment and the extent and location of the decay.

It must be remembered that generally local anaesthesia is not given for a dental filling procedure. However, if the patient is feeling any pain, too much sensitivity or discomfort during the procedure local anaesthesia can be given before the removal of the decay from the teeth.

The dentist will then probe or test the area to see if all the decay has been removed.

Space is then prepared for the filling material by cleaning the cavity of debris and bacteria after the removal of the decay.

If the decay is near the root of the tooth, then the dentist will put a liner of glass ionomer cement or composite resin or any other material to protect the underlying nerve of the tooth.

For a tooth coloured filling like light-cured composite resin filling, the filling is done incrementally. After each layer (of about 2mm) of filling a special light cure is used to harden the filling. The final layer of the filling has to be such that it matches the contour of the normal tooth structure.

However, for other chemically cured fillings (including chemically-cured composite resin), the filling is placed directly on the tooth surface at one go and before the filling sets the dentist shapes it according to the desired contour of the tooth structure.

Once the cavity filling is complete the dentist will finish and polish it.