If one has lost a filling, has decay in a tooth or a tooth breakage it is not wise to leave these situations. With time teeth in this condition breakdown further and either become more expensive to fix or decay goes through to where the nerve is and creates toothache.
A badly broken down tooth may be unsavable and extraction may still be the only option to resolve the situation.
For moderately damaged teeth there are relatively strong temporary materials called glass ionomers which can be used to temporary fix these teeth. These materials release fluoride into the tooth structure helping to prevent decay and further breakdown.
For heavily broken down teeth that are still savable which ordinarily would require a standard crown, we can make temporary crowns, bonded resin restorations as temporary measures.
When one has a toothache and the tooth is savable, in the majority of cases the pain is caused by a "dying nerve" or an infection caused by the remnants of a "dead nerve".
In many of these cases, the pain and infection can be relieved by carrying out part of the required root canal treatment, dressing the tooth with medication and sealing with a temporary filling. A tooth may be able to stay in this state for some months if necessary or require redressing from time to time until the tooth can be totally treated.
For teeth that have to be extracted temporary replacements can be made by making provisional dentures, temporary bridges and bonded temporary teeth placed to help both function and aesthetics until one can be in a better financial position to get a more long term end result.
Our advice is to keep regular visits with your dentist as this is the most cost effective way to maintain teeth in good health.
If there is a dental problem that is obvious, leaving it will only make the problem greater and/or devastating when emergency care is forced upon the situation.
Presented by Dr. Gary Winter BDS
Principal Dentist
Dental on Raffles
