There are many potential reasons for a tooth to develop a toothache, and many different ways to alleviate one, depending on its specific cause. However, tooth decay, which leads to the development of a cavity, is one of the most common causes of chronic toothaches that don’t go away. If you develop a cavity and your tooth starts to hurt as a result, the most appropriate way to treat your tooth and alleviate the pain may be with a custom-designed dental filling.
If a cavity’s making your tooth hurt
A cavity causes your tooth to hurt by directly exposing its more sensitive main structures. When healthy, this structure (called dentin) is protected by a highly resilient layer of minerals called enamel. Healthy tooth enamel prevents things like oral bacteria, food, beverages, and more from causing your teeth to feel sensitive. However, when a cavity forms, the first stage is the erosion of your tooth’s healthy enamel, which makes your tooth increasingly more sensitive over time. The longer the cavity is allowed to progress, the more intense your toothache will become. With a tooth filling, we can help stop your cavity from getting worse and restore the affected part of your tooth structure.
What a dental filling can do for the tooth
A dental filling’s purpose is specifically to restore your tooth when it’s afflicted by a cavity. The process of placing the filling in your tooth involves carefully cleaning out the cavity to remove any harmful oral bacteria or infected tooth structure that remains. This removes the main source of your tooth’s discomfort as well as the threat behind to the tooth’s further decay. With a filling placed inside of it, the tooth’s cavity will cease to progress and grow larger, and the exposed part of the tooth structure will be protected from things that could irritate it.
If your toothache and cavity are severe
Custom-made tooth fillings are most appropriate for mild to moderate cavities that have developed within a tooth’s main structure of dentin. If your tooth is severe, however, then it may indicate that your tooth decay is severe, also, and has reached the tooth’s nerves that are housed within its pulp chamber. To relieve the pain of a severely infected tooth, you might require root canal treatment instead of a tooth filling procedure. This involves removing the infected nerves and tissues from the pulp and root canal to stop the decay’s further progression.
Learn if a filling can cure your toothache
One of the most common causes of a toothache is the formation of a cavity, which you might be able to successfully treat with the help of a tooth filling. To learn more, schedule an appointment by calling Creekside Family Dental Care in Columbia, TN, today at (931) 388–3384.