Dental Fillings at Adelaide Dental Spa

Why Are Fillings Needed?

Dental decay weakens the structure of your teeth, causing deterioration and potential fractures. If untreated, cavities can spread to adjacent teeth. A dental filling restores the tooth by removing decay and filling the area with white composite, which bonds closely with the tooth structure for a seamless finish.

Types of Dental Fillings

Direct Fillings

Traditional fillings are direct restorations, which we shape by hand. After we clean away the decaying tooth structure, a matching composite is placed into the opening and cured to the tooth. The colour is specially matched so that your tooth appears whole again.

Indirect Fillings

An indirect filling is one that we make for larger areas of structural damage. After we’ve prepped your tooth, a 3D scan is taken to create a virtual model of the area being treated. From there, our in-house CEREC CAD/CAM milling machine creates a custom indirect filling from a solid block of porcelain. Indirect fillings are more durable when there’s a larger area to repair. Because 3D scanning is so accurate, the indirect restoration will fit your tooth precisely as possible.

Do You Have a Cavity?

The first step to treating tooth decay is an exam. During your evaluation, we’ll fully inspect all of the hard and soft tissues throughout your smile. A set of X-rays will also be taken to check between and inside of each tooth, spaces that aren’t visible during a visual screening. We’ll also take high resolution intraoral photos of any areas of concern.

Let us know if you’re experiencing cavity symptoms like:

Tooth sensitivity
Food or floss catching between teeth
Pain when eating or drinking something sweet
Discomfort when you bite down
A visible discoloration or hole in your tooth

After we gather all of the information that we need, we’ll share our findings with you so that you can be active in determining the next steps of care. All appropriate treatment options will be reviewed and discussed (including the pros and cons of each), so that you have flexibility to choose the best one that fits your needs, budget, time frame and lifestyle. We want you to be fully informed about which treatment is best suited to you.

Planning for Your Appointment

We encourage our patients to eat a light meal about an hour ahead of their appointment, to help prevent any light headedness. Average fillings take about 30-60 minutes to complete, but we can provide you with a more detailed estimate at the time of your initial exam.

To keep you comfortable, your tooth will be completely anesthetised so that you don’t feel anything other than a small amount of pressure. We also offer sleep dentistry (oral sedation) medication if you feel particularly anxious or need multiple restorations completed on the same day.