Cavity Fillings Are An Ounce Of Prevention
Nobody loves to go to the dentist for a tooth filling. A regular cleaning is bad enough with the metal hooks scraping the tartar off your teeth and a dentist poking around in every corner of your mouth. Cavity fillings add to this by drilling out your teeth and sometimes causing some serious pain in the process, plus the anesthetic makes your lips and tongue feel fat for a while afterward.
But all of this, all the discomfort and the hours spent in a dentist’s chair, all of it is better than any of your alternatives. A cavity can turn into a painful infection that makes it hard to eat or even aches constantly, and if you don’t do anything even after these warning signs the infection can spread and become truly dangerous. Getting your cavity filled early means you get to avoid all this future pain and discomfort.
It also means that you won’t have to worry about a more serious procedure. Regular fillings have nothing on the root canal, which removes all the pulp from the core of your teeth right down to the roots. This kills the living part of your tooth and replaces it with a special compound. This process can take a long time and costs quite a bit more than a normal filling. You might also need to remove the tooth completely and replace it with a dental appliance or a dental implant.
Regular visits to your dentist and getting all the fillings you need when you need them can’t stop you from ever needing a root canal or a tooth extraction. However, they can definitely do a lot to keep these things from happening for as long as possible.
Good dental hygiene combined with timely cavity fillings go a long way to making sure you can keep your original teeth in their original condition for decades into your retirement, and possibly even for your entire life. Because while staying away from too many sugary drinks and starchy foods and brushing after every meal is the best way to prevent tooth decay, getting a cavity filling as soon as you need it is the next best thing.