How much can not eat after filling the tooth? What materials are used today for the treatment of caries? If you want to know the answers to these questions, you need to read this article.
"Don't drink or eat for two hours!" - most dentists do not use this phrase for a long time. With the advent of modern filling raw materials, dentist patients do not have to torture themselves by looking at their watches and refraining from eating. However, some municipal hospitals still have dental “heirlooms” that are subject to such restrictions.
Materials
Dental fillings are made from different materials. The time of their hardening depends on what substance the doctor used. If you forgot to find out from the dentist or he did not recommend anything to you, after reading this article you will guess which filling was installed for you.
Cements
In the last century, the question of how much you can not eat after filling a tooth was very relevant. Various cements have been used in the treatment of caries. Their quality was disgusting: if the doctor is wrongkneaded the solution, the filling under the influence of saliva melted in the patient's mouth, like ice cream on a hot day. Such fillings could stand for a maximum of 2-3 years.
Today, cement raw materials are used in dentistry due to their low cost. But, having decided to save money, you need to take into account that it is not able to prevent the development of a relapse, so you need to be prepared for repeated treatment. In addition, cement fillings can quickly crack and fall out. They also take a very long time to harden.
Working with this substance, the dentist necessarily warns 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 ionomers are one type of cement fillings. They do not have the disadvantages described above, and they are considered cutting-edge materials. The main advantage of glass ionomer cements is their safety for he alth. In addition, this raw material contains fluorine in its composition, which for a long time protects the tooth from the action of bacteria that cause caries. These materials are not affected by moisture, which greatly facilitates the work of the dentist when treating a tooth in an area that is difficult to dry properly, for example, in the subgingival.
Metal seals
Metal fillings, which were called amalgam, were used in dentistry 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, it contained mercury. 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 fillings
And how much you can not eat after filling the tooth, 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 stained when exposed to food and drink and quickly lost its shape.
In 90% of cases, patients developed periodontitis or pulpitis, very often there was an allergy to raw materials. If a crown was installed on the plastic, the tooth under it collapsed very quickly. When this shortcoming was discovered, the substance was discontinued, and patients began to change the seals that were previously installed. That is why the question of the time of eating after treatment with this raw material is no longer relevant.
Light seals
Light-curing, photopolymer or light-curing dental fillings are a material that is fundamentally different from the above. Its main feature is that it freezes under the influence of a special lamp. The photopolymer mixture contains a heliocomposite. Under the influence of ultraviolet rays, it decomposes into radicals, which stimulate the process of solidification of the seal. In private clinics, dentists work with this raw material.
Before you figure out how long you can eat after a tooth filling,you need to figure out what is good about this material. This polymer cannot harden in air, so the dentist can form the crown of the restored tooth for a long time. Photopolymers are plastic, they lend themselves perfectly to polishing. Due to these properties and the abundance of shades of raw materials, the doctor can obtain a high aesthetics of the 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 performance.
The question of how much you can not eat after filling a tooth 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. Light polymers stay on the teeth for a long time and reliably thanks to the adhesives that are applied to the tooth walls before treatment. A special adhesive system does not allow the filling to fall out prematurely: it holds it firmly in the tooth cavity. In addition, a chemical bond appears between the photopolymer filling and the tissues of the tooth.
Light polymers allow you to restore teeth in such precedents, in which no filling could have survived before, for example, with small recesses, chips. The average service life of this raw material is 5 years.
The photopolymer instantly hardens after being illuminated by a solar lamp on its surface, therefore, as soon as the treatment is completed, the patient is allowed to have lunch or dinner.
Explanation
Although there are no definiterestrictions on the time of eating, some doctors forbid patients to eat. This applies to circumstances where a light filling has to be placed on the front teeth. If the surface of the cured photopolymer is poorly polished, it may change its color. This will be facilitated by the use of drinks and products that stain the enamel: beets, coffee, chocolate, strong tea, tomatoes. Your doctor may advise you to eliminate these foods from your diet for the next seven days to prevent staining of the filling. Dentists say that you need to follow the same “white diet” after in-office whitening in order for the result to last as long as possible.
Do I need to eat before visiting the dentist? Dentists advise their patients to come to the appointment well-fed. After eating, the activity of the salivary glands in a person is reduced, which greatly simplifies the work of the doctor. In addition, hungry people are more difficult to endure stressful situations.
If anesthesia was used during the treatment of the tooth, it is necessary to wait for the effect of the anesthetic to end, and only then you can eat. Otherwise, you can inadvertently damage the mucous membrane when chewing food. This rule applies regardless of whether photopolymer or any other raw material was used.
Sometimes in the process of restoring a tooth, the doctor puts a temporary filling, under which he places the medicine. It freezes for a long time, so after treatment, you should refrain from eating for two hours.
