Fillings

Signs you might need it

• A tooth that twinges with sweet, hot or cold things, then settles.
• Food catching in one spot, or a dark mark or a rough edge you can feel with your tongue.
• A piece of an old filling has come away, or the tooth has chipped.
• Often nothing at all. Early decay is usually found at a check-up or on a CBCT scan, before it hurts.

What happens, step by step

1. Examination, and a CBCT scan if needed

   To see how deep the decay goes and whether the nerve is close.

2. The decay is removed

   The softened part of the tooth is taken away and the cavity is cleaned and shaped. Where treatment needs it, the area is numbed with a local anaesthetic before we start, and you can ask us to pause at any point.

3. The filling is placed

   Usually a tooth-coloured composite, built up in layers and set with a light. Another material may suit some teeth better; the doctor explains the choice.

4. Shaped, checked and polished

   The filling is trimmed to your bite and polished. A simple filling is often done in one appointment; a deep or large one may need more than one, or a different approach altogether, such as a crown or root canal treatment if the decay has reached the nerve.

How it feels afterwards

If the tooth was numbed, the lip, cheek or tongue may stay numb for a few hours; be careful not to bite them. Sensitivity to cold or to biting for a few days is common and usually settles. If the bite feels high when the numbness wears off, come back and it is adjusted.

Sensitivity is not the same as nerve pain. A sharp twinge that passes is different from a throbbing ache that lingers or wakes you; if that happens, tell us.

What decides the cost

A fee is only worked out once the doctor has examined you. It depends on:

• The size of the filling and how many surfaces of the tooth it covers.
• The material used.
• Whether a lining is needed because the decay is deep, and whether a CBCT scan is taken.
• The cost is told to you in writing before anything is done.