If you are experiencing tooth or mouth pain you might have a cavity, which is a hole in a tooth, that needs filling. If the hole is beyond repair with a filling or crown then the tooth may need extracting.
What happens during a filling
After dental x-rays are taken, to show the extent of damage. The area around the damaged tooth is numbed. Once numbing has taken hold, using specialized tools, decay is removed from the affected tooth or teeth. The hole left from removal of decay is then filled, most commonly with a composite filling – made up of resin and glass. After hardening, the tooth is polished down to your normal bite height. At times additional treatment such as root canal therapy including a more extensive restorative procedure is necessary to rebuild the broken tooth. The purpose is to extend the amount of time that chewing unit (your tooth) can continue to be used in your mouth free of infect and pain.
Extractions
We prefer to save your tooth whenever possible. But sometimes a tooth may be too broken down, there is no bone holding it in and or it carries infection that can damage your other teeth. A severely infected tooth can also be risky for your health. If root canal therapy is not an option, then we must consider removing it (extraction).
Call our Burnaby office at 604-568-6000 today if you are in pain or want more information about filling and extractions.