How to fill a hole in tooth at home? Is it safe

How to fill a hole in tooth at home? Is it safe

Wondering how to fill a hole in a tooth at home, and if it’s safe? Read this to learn the truth before you purchase a kit to fill a tooth in at home.

Holes in your teeth, or cavities, are a common occurrence that many of us deal with in our lives. When you do, your first thought might be to go to a dentist to get a filling, but then you hear about how to fill a hole in a tooth at home. Then, you might start to wonder – is it safe?

Unfortunately, cavities are unpleasant, and more often than not, very painful, and when you start to feel the signs, you might want to avoid a trip to the dentist at all costs. Your solution? Fill the hole in your tooth at home.

Here, we will be going through how to fill a hole in a tooth at home, and whether it’s safe to do so or not. Please read to the end and learn the truth about at-home filling kits before going out and buying one.

What to do if you have cavities

The first thing you should do if you suspect that you have a cavity is make an appointment with your dentist. It’s always better to get ahead of any potential issues, rather than waiting until they become unbearable.

Depending on the severity of the decay, there are a few options that will be ahead of you. If tooth decay is in its very early stages, a prescribed fluoride treatment could be all you need to reverse the damage.

However, if tooth decay has resulted in cavities forming, these will need to be dealt with before getting worse. In the event that the decay has gone far enough to reach the pulp in the centre of your tooth, you will likely need a root canal treatment.

What exactly are cavities?

Cavities are parts of your tooth or teeth that have decayed to create a hole or another opening in the tooth. There are three types of cavities: fissure/pit cavities, root cavities, and smooth surface cavities.

The primary causes of cavities include drinking sugary drinks, snacking a lot, and inadequate oral hygiene (e.g. not brushing your teeth often enough). However, there are also a number of risk factors that can increase your chances of experiencing cavities. These include things like tooth location, your age, eating disorders, and heartburn, to name a few.

You may have cavities if you experience the following symptoms:

• Sensitivity in your teeth.
• Pain when biting down.
• Pits/holes become visible in your teeth.
• Toothaches.
• White, brown, or black staining on the area of a tooth.
• Sharp pain when drinking hot or cold beverages, or drinking something sweet.

Can you fill holes in your teeth at home?

Technically, you can fill holes in your teeth at home with an at-home temporary filling kit. These can be purchased on Amazon and other online retailers, and in many stores such as Boots and Superdrug.

Kits like these can allow you to temporarily put in a filling in the comfort of your own home, and while they might sound convenient, these DIY filling kits are not without their risks.

Are DIY home fillings safe?

Simply put – no. There are lots of issues when it comes to looking at the increasingly popular DIY tooth filling kits that you can find these days. Despite their growing popularity in recent years, filling a hole in your tooth at home comes with risks that you may not be aware of.

Tooth decay is still there

The biggest risk with using these kits is that they do not remove the tooth decay. Since decay is the source of the problem, this is akin to putting a plaster on an amputated limb. Even with the tooth filling in, all the bacteria are still present beneath, which will lead to more pain and decay.

Decay needs to be removed before you put a filling in. Visiting the dentist, the decay will be removed, even if you need to get a temporary tooth filling. So, if you skip this step, you can make the issue much worse for yourself.

The materials are different

A dentist will use suitable materials for the procedure, but DIY filling kits will fill the hole using materials that may not work. By using the incorrect materials, you run the risk of food and liquid getting into the hole and making your issue worse.

In severe cases, the additional decay can cause you to lose a tooth or require a root canal.

The filling won’t last and won’t match

Since a different material is used, your at-home filling will not match the rest of your tooth. Not only that, but the filling won’t last and will simply fall out since the material can’t bond to your tooth. Both of these issues are unpleasant to deal with, can waste money, and make you more self-conscious.

DIY fillings can change your bite

Despite the short-lived nature of these DIY tooth fillings, they can still do damage to your bite. Everyone’s mouth is unique, and our teeth come together differently. Because of this, it is very easy to mess up your bite with at-home kits, since there is no precision and no professionals.

You can’t replicate the shape of your tooth with these kits. When you can’t do this, your bite will be altered – most like negatively – and you can experience further complications and pain. Even small differences in our teeth can result in changes in our bites.

How to fill a hole in a tooth at home

Temporary at-home tooth filling kits can be used, but this doesn’t mean that they should. Even in the cases where you do use them, they will not fix your problem, and you will still need to make an appointment with your dentist.

The only “fix” you can get if you have a hole in your tooth is professional treatment. These are safer, last longer, and will always give you better results than any DIY procedure you can come up with.

With that being said, if you still choose to use an at-home filling kit out of desperation before you can get to a dentist, you will need to carefully follow the instructions given with the kit. Again, we would never recommend doing this, but if you are, be as safe as possible.

Popular dental procedures

There are a lot of popular dental procedures that you might look into, depending on your personal wants and needs. At Eye & Dental Clinic, we offer general dentistry and checkups for your everyday needs, as well as teeth straightening, Invisalign, teeth whitening, and crowns and bridges procedures.

Additional services we offer include:

• Fillings.
• X-rays.
• Dental implants.
• Repairs.
• Veneers.
• Composite bonding.
• Dentures.

Remember that the cost of dental procedures can vary greatly depending on what you want and need because of the training, time, and materials involved in dental procedures. You can check our list of procedure costs to see what works for you.

Dental hygiene and oral health are crucial in your life, and shouldn’t be overlooked. If you want to ensure that your mouth stays as healthy as possible, you can sign up for a dental plan to help cover the associated costs. That way, you can rest easy knowing that treatment costs will be managed.

Make the smart choice with your fillings

At Eye & Dental Clinic, we offer emergency treatment for those who suddenly find themselves in need of our help. If you do get a filling, make sure you know the signs that you need to make another appointment with your dentist, and follow the rules, such as how long to wait before eating.

If you have other questions, like whether tooth extraction or a filling is more painful, have a look at our blogs on the topic. For now, though, you learned how to fill a hole in a tooth at home, and that it is not safe. So, if you have a problem with a tooth, make sure to set up an appointment with your dentist.

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