Your composite filling is complete. This restoration will serve you well for several years. The resin (plastic) material used contains small “filler” particles of glass-like material for strength and wear resistance. They contain the finest and most up-to-date materials available today. However, you should be aware of the following information about your new restorations.
- Composite fillings set up hard right away. There is not waiting time to eat. Although, as with natural teeth, avoid chewing excessively hard foods on the filled teeth (hard candy, ice, etc.) because the resin material can break under extreme forces.
- Children should be observed until the anesthetic wears off. Due to the strange feeling of the anesthetic, many children will chew the inside of their lips, cheeks, or tongue which can cause serious damage.
- Your gum tissue could have been irritated, as well as the injection site, during the procedure and may be sore for a few days. It is also normal to experience some hot, cold, and pressure sensitivity. Ibuprofen , Motrin, or Tylenol work well to alleviate the soreness.
- The finished restoration may be contoured slightly different and have a different texture than the original tooth. Your tongue usually magnifies this small difference, but you will become accustomed to this in a few days.
When a tooth has a cavity, Dr. Johnston will remove the decay and fill the hole with a filling material (composite). This ideally is no more than 50% of the tooth, leaving half of the tooth to support the filling. If your cavity took up more than 50% of the tooth today, Dr. Johnston will indicate that you need a crown that will cover the entire tooth and hold it together. We can schedule that for you as soon as possible.
Braces Post Op Instructions