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Is Cavity Filling Painful?

Indrajit Deshmukh
After undergoing the procedure for filling a dental cavity, you may experience some pain and sensitivity for about one week. In case the pain persists, it is essential to consult the dentist to avoid further complications, and seek appropriate treatment.
The tooth is made up of tissues called enamel, dentin, and cementum. Damage in these tissues can lead to the formation of holes known as dental cavities.
Such tooth decay is caused by bacteria, and in most cases cavity filling is the only cure. The outer enamel of the teeth does not have any nerves. Hence you will not experience pain if you have a small cavity. However, if it spreads and becomes infectious, the presence of the cavity, as well as the treatment procedure may cause moderate pain.
The cavity filling procedure involves removal of the decayed parts of the tooth, using drills or lasers, followed by filling the hole with a material that stops further tooth decay.
This sounds easy, but removing and cleaning the enamel is not easy, as enamel is one of the hardest material in our body. The use of high-speed drills to clear the decayed portion of teeth is one of the reasons for pain after the procedure.
The patient is given local anesthesia, and the dentist uses a coating which helps to reduce the sensitivity of teeth, before filling up the cavity. This coating insulates the teeth from temperature variations, and prevents tooth sensitivity, and cavity pain.
Common materials used are glass ionomer, dycal, and zinc phosphate cement. After this, a filling material of your choice will be used to seal the cleaned area. Some of the common filling materials are silver, gold, and ceramic. The cavity filling cost mostly depends on the material you choose.
The use of high-speed dental drills or lasers to remove the decayed portion is one of the most common causes of deep pain. Composite filling is also one of the reasons behind tooth pain after filling. This pain can be induced by air pressure, eating sweets, or drinking cold beverages.
In most cases, the actual filling procedure is not painful because of the use of local anesthesia. However, you feel experience sensitivity or pain after the procedure, especially when you bite or chew on something. In most cases, the pain subsides within a week.
If you're experiencing pain after you bite something, it may also be a result of misshapen filling and you'll have to visit the dentist, who will smoothen the surface of the cavity filling. The other reason for pain is the contact of unaffected teeth with filling. The dentist usually makes sure that there are no sharp edges left after the filling procedure.
Cavity filling is a painful procedure, and if the pain does not subside in a week, consult your dentist to take the necessary corrective measures.