When your teeth are damaged, dental fillings are often the first line of defense to prevent anymore decay and restore your oral health. They effectively cover, or “fill,” the holes or cracks in your teeth.
Here at Ritchie Dental Group, we’re pleased to offer laser dental fillings to give you a faster, better dental experience.
Why Do I Need a Filling?
Tooth decay and cavities can be caused by several factors, like not practicing good oral hygiene, too frequent snacking, consuming sugary beverages, and just the bacteria in your mouth going unchecked.
Untreated, cavities and tooth decay can cause permanent damage to your teeth that may need heavier repairs later—but dental fillings are a quick way to restore your dental health.
The sooner you can undergo treatment for cavities or tooth decay, the better. Leaving damaged teeth untreated for too long can result in more extreme problems in the future. If you suspect you have a cavity, or any problems with your teeth, you should contact us at Ritchie Dental Group right away.
What Is Laser Dentistry?
One of our favorite ways to fill cavities at Ritchie Dental Group is with laser dental fillings because of how great this technology is.
Laser dentistry uses highly concentrated light to treat various dental conditions. When tissue comes in contact with the light from a dental laser, it is either removed or reshaped.
While using lasers to treat your teeth sounds futuristic and even scary, it’s actually a dental practice that has been in use since the nineties and has only improved over time.
Dental lasers can be used to treat a variety of dental conditions, including filling cavities. Some other dental problems lasers can be used for include the following:
- Hypersensitivity.
- Tooth decay.
- Gum disease.
- Whitening teeth.
How Do Laser Dental Fillings Work?
Dental lasers can help us identify cavities very early on in the process, before the cavity gets worse. Early detection is a vital tool for keeping your oral health in check.
In addition to being used for early detection of cavities, dental lasers can kill the bacteria that cause a cavity, preventing the cavity from getting worse.
Using dental lasers to fill cavities is a more precise method than using a traditional dental drill. This makes dental lasers the ideal instrument for most cavity procedures. Along with its other benefits, your laser cavity filling is a no-shot cavity filling—meaning it is so mild that you won’t even require a shot of anesthesia.
Keep in mind, however, that dental lasers cannot be used on teeth that have existing fillings. Some cavities are not good candidates for laser treatment. Cavity location is the deciding factor in whether or not a dental laser is an option to fill a cavity.
If Dr. Ritchie decides a laser dental filling will work for your case, our team is specially trained to fill cavities with the dental laser instrument. We use only our most trusted equipment to perform this procedure on our patients.
Do Dental Lasers Hurt?
With traditional dental filling methods, the patient needs anesthesia and the dentist uses a dental drill to get into the tooth and place the filling. Many people find this method uncomfortable or downright painful.
In contrast, laser dental fillings are considered a “no-shot cavity filling” because they are so gentle that they do not even require anesthesia. Your laser cavity filling doesn’t require a shot or a dental drill, and you won’t experience anything like the level of swelling or pain post-treatment that often comes with traditional filling methods.
Is it any surprise that laser cavity fillings are most people’s filling method of choice? All in all, dental lasers at Ritchie Dental Group provide a no-shot cavity filling option that is an almost entirely pain-free way to improve your dental health.
Call Ritchie Dental Group to Learn More
Our compassionate and trained staff at Ritchie Dental Group is available to answer any further questions you have when it comes to your oral health and especially dental lasers. Call us today to get more information and set an appointment!
