Situation
The patient came for routine treatment. During the examination, caries was found in tooth 3.6 on the chewing surface (the most common location for caries: between the cusps, in the fissures) and on the medial contact surface (next to the adjacent tooth 3.5, a premolar).
With such a location of the carious cavity, the first thing you might notice is food getting stuck; pain may be absent or only manifest when the carious process has closely approached the tooth nerve.
Treatment at “DentalDate” clinic is carried out using a “Zeiss” microscope (Germany), which greatly helps to achieve the highest quality of fillings and restorations.
Treatment Process
Any tooth restoration begins with selecting the color for the future filling: the filling should not differ, stand out, or be noticeable—this is one of the indicators of treatment effectiveness.
The next stage is anesthesia: we administer anesthesia and achieve maximum comfort for the patient.
The surfaces of teeth 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 are cleaned of plaque using AirFlow Prophylaxis technology from the manufacturer “Master EMS” (Switzerland), after which the filling material better bonds with the tooth tissues, which means it will last longer.
A Nic Tone cofferdam from MDC Dental (Mexico) is installed – protection from saliva as moisture is what impairs adhesion (i.e., the attachment of dental materials).
The priority of all doctors at “DentalDate” clinic: to maximally preserve healthy tissues, without weakening the tooth, but to qualitatively remove carious lesions. The darkest point in the photo of tooth 3.6 is the place where the caries has come quite close to the pulp chamber (tooth nerve), here the dentin is dense, although pigmented (brown). We use gentle treatment to keep the tooth “alive”, i.e., to avoid nerve removal and unjustified endodontic treatment.
After preparing the cavity, it is evident that this is one of the rare cases when the adjacent surface of tooth 3.5 is not affected (caries was diagnosed before it began to destroy the neighboring tooth).
At the same time, we are also dealing with tooth 3.7, requiring more prolonged root canal treatment, trying to maximize the use of anesthesia in this area and reduce the number of visits for the patient (it is evident from the photo that tooth 3.7 is opened).
To create the lateral wall of tooth 3.6, we install special matrices and wedges Palodent from the manufacturer “Dentsply Sirona” (USA), checking their tight fit to the tooth.
The final stage before restoration is sandblasting.
For restoration, we use a layered technique, replicating the natural anatomy of the tooth, which guarantees no negative changes in occlusion and masticatory function subsequently. Notice how naturally the cusps and fissures look, they are indistinguishable from the natural ones preserved on the adjacent tooth 3.5!
In this case, color A2 of the material “Filtek” (USA) is chosen for restoration. “DentalDate” clinic uses only tested materials of the highest quality.
Next, we smooth the edges of the filling, introduce it into occlusion (checking that the filling does not interfere with chewing movements using articulation paper). We polish with several types of Enhance systems from “Dentsply Sirona” (USA).
Recommendations for You
What can I pay attention to after treatment of tooth decay?
- The color of the filling matches the color of the other teeth. In the post-treatment photo, you cannot find the boundaries of the filling or even suspect its presence.
- The filling is smooth and shiny like the tooth itself, no food or floss is stuck anywhere.
- You don’t feel the filling (after the anesthesia has worn off) when you close your teeth. The restored tissue does not interfere with any movement of your jaw.
- All tooth structures are fully recreated: the photo shows that the bumps and pits destroyed by caries have taken their places; the contact between teeth 3.5 and 3.6 is tight, but passable for flossing.
- The gum returns to its pale pink color a few days after the visit, bleeding when brushing and odor (which usually accompanies caries on the contact) disappears.
Minimal intervention, gentle attitude, quality teamwork, all this awaits you at DentalDate.