How much can not be eaten after tooth filling? What caries treatment materials are used today? If you want to know the answers to these questions, you need to read this article.
“Do not drink or eat for two hours!” - most dentists have not used this phrase for a long time. With the advent of modern filling materials, dentist patients do not have to torment themselves by looking at their watches and refraining from eating. However, some municipal hospitals still have dental “relics,” the use of which has such limitations.
Materials
Dental fillings are made of different materials. The time of their hardening depends on what substance the doctor used. If you forgot to find out from the dentist or if he didn’t recommend anything to you, after reading this article you will guess which seal you have installed.
Cement
In the last century, the question of how much you can’t eat after filling a tooth was very relevant. In the process of caries treatment , different cements were used. Their quality was disgusting: if the doctor incorrectly mixed the solution, the filling melted under the influence of saliva in the patient's mouth, like ice cream on a hot day. Such seals could stand a maximum of 2-3 years.
Today, cement raw materials due to its low cost are used in dentistry. But, deciding to save, you need to consider that it is not able to prevent the development of relapse, so you need to be prepared for re-treatment. In addition, cement fillings can quickly crack and fall out. And they harden for a very long time.
When working with this substance, the dentist must warn the client how much to eat after filling the tooth. It is better to refrain from drinks and food after visiting a doctor for 3 hours.
Glass counters are one of the types of cement fillings. They do not have the disadvantages described above, and they are considered ultramodern materials. The main advantage of glass-based cement cements is their safety for health. In addition, this raw material contains fluorine, which for a long time protects the tooth from the action of bacteria that cause tooth decay. These materials are not susceptible to moisture, which greatly facilitates the work of the dentist in the treatment of a tooth in an area that is difficult to dry qualitatively, for example in the subgingival.
Metal seals
In dentistry, metal fillings, which were called amalgam, were used for a long time. They could be copper, gold and silver. Despite their reliability and durability, the demand for such fillings disappeared as soon as alternatives appeared. The amalgam was unaesthetic, hardened for a long time, mercury was in its composition. Patients treated with this material complained of a metallic taste in the mouth and allergic reactions. In addition, working with him required special equipment.
Plastic seals
And how much can not be eaten after tooth filling, if plastic material was used? The appearance of this raw material led to a stir. Such fillings quickly gained popularity, but, as it turned out, they were toxic. Plastic was stained by food and drinks and quickly lost shape.
In 90% of cases, patients developed periodontitis or pulpitis, very often an allergy to raw materials appeared. If a crown was installed on the plastic, the tooth was destroyed very quickly under it. When this deficiency was discovered, the substance was no longer used, and patients began to change the seals installed earlier. That is why the question of the time of eating after treatment with this raw material is no longer relevant.
Light seals
Light-hardening, photopolymer or light dental fillings - this is a material radically different from the above. Its main feature is that it freezes under the influence of a special lamp. The heliocomposite is in the mixture of the photopolymer. Under the influence of ultraviolet rays, it breaks up into radicals, which stimulate the process of solidification of the seal. In private clinics, dentists work with this raw material.
Before you find out how much you can eat after filling a tooth, you need to figure out what this material is good for. This polymer cannot harden in air, so the dentist can form the crown of a restored tooth for a long time. Photopolymers are plastic, they are superbly polishable. Due to these properties and the abundance of shades of raw materials, the doctor can get a high aesthetic restoration.
A light filling on a chewing tooth is placed only because it has high strength. It is also used for the "smile zone", as it has excellent aesthetic indicators.
The question of how much you can’t eat after tooth filling is quite logical, because no one wants to be stressed and visit the dentist again in case of damage to the material. We want to reassure you. The light polymer on the teeth lasts long and reliably thanks to the adhesives that are applied to the tooth walls before treatment. A special adhesive system does not allow premature filling to fall out: it holds it firmly in the tooth cavity. In addition, a chemical bond appears between the photopolymer fillings and tooth tissues.
Light polymers allow tooth restoration in such precedents, in which no fill could have been preserved before, for example, with small notches, chips. The average life of this raw material is 5 years.
The photopolymer instantly freezes after exposure to the surface with a heliolamp, therefore, as soon as the treatment is completed, the patient is allowed to have lunch or dinner.
Explanation
Although there are no specific time limits for eating after treatment with photopolymer, some doctors prohibit patients from eating. This applies to circumstances when a light seal has to be installed on the front teeth. If the surface of the cured photopolymer is poorly polished, it can change its color. This will be facilitated by the use of drinks and enamel-staining products: beets, coffee, chocolate, strong tea, and tomatoes. The doctor may advise you to exclude such food from the diet in the next seven days to prevent the color of the seal. Dentists say that you need to follow this same “white diet” after cabinet whitening so that the result lasts as long as possible.
Do I need to eat before visiting a dentist? Dentists advise their patients to get well fed. After a meal, a person's salivary gland activity is reduced, which greatly simplifies the work of a doctor. In addition, hungry people are more difficult to tolerate stressful situations.
If anesthesia was used during tooth treatment, it is necessary to wait until the action of the anesthetic is complete and only then you can eat. Otherwise, you can inadvertently damage the mucous membrane while chewing food. This rule applies regardless of whether photopolymer or any other raw material has been used.
Sometimes in the process of tooth restoration, the doctor puts a temporary filling under which the medicine is placed. It freezes for a long time, so after treatment, you should refrain from eating for two hours.