Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Whats the procedure for placing an amalgam filling?


Answer:
First, if the cavity is big enough, say, reaching the dentin (the sensitive part of the tooth) or the cementum (if near the gumline), you have to be numbed for it. Second, when you are numbed, the cavity on the tooth is cleaned, or shall I say, prepared to make it clean and acceptable for the amalgam to be placed. That is the "drilling" part. Third, when it is ready for the amalgam to be placed, it doesn't need to be "etched" as the amalgam depends on mechanical retention (meaning grooves are created by drilling for the amalgam to adapt better inside the cavity) and not on chemical retention (as the acid etches and forms tags for composite resins to bind better with the tooth). The dentist will just deliver the amalgam into the cavity by means of a plugger and condense it well into the prepared cavity until it has filled the cavity and he/ she takes out the excess by carving it out to conform to the contour of the tooth to make it functional. He / she might want to burnish it too so it will have a smoother and shinier look. Then the dentist might want to adjust the bite by asking you to bite on articulating paper, so it wouldn't be too high when you close and grind down amalgam from the marks created. Then, tooth is ready to go, or shall I say you will be all set.So, in short, no etching and no bonding needed for amalgams.
The procedure is an simple as another other filling material. The amalgam is placed into the cavity in small amounts and is 'plugged in' with a fair amount of pressure. Once the cavity is full, any excess is removed and the filling will be carved as to return to the original shape of the tooth
First you have to drill a hole in the tooth that needs the filling,
then a base (ZOE) is placed in the bottom of the cavity and finally the amalgam is made by mixing some metals (such as silver and copper) with mercury and placed in the rest of the cavity and condensed. It has to be placed following the anatomy of the tooth so there aren't any premature contacts with the antagonist teeth. After a few days you go back to the dentist so he can polish it. I hope this will help.
No it doent need any of that. Thats just for white fillings its part of making the material bond on your teeth. The difference in that silver fillings just fill in holes while white feelings can be formed on.
Having an amalgam filling is very straight forward, first off the dentist will numb the area, he/she will wait a while to let the injection work, once the injection has taken effect the dentist will simply drill out the old filling, if there is any sign of decay this will be removed, if the filling looks deep a lining of Dycal
will be placed inside the hole to help protect the pulp.
The amalgam is now ready to be placed inside, whilst the amalgam is being inserted, good moisture control is very important as amalgam swells if it gets moist and this could result in the filling being to high and you putting to much force on the tooth when biting.
Once the filling is placed inside the dentist will check using articulating paper that the bite is correct and the filling is not to high, and if all's well your free to go.
We normally advise patients to avoid eating on the side the filling was placed for about 24hrs, just to allow the filling to settle and to wait for the numbness to wear off before drinking anything hot.
Firstly, depending on how deep the cavity is the dentist will ethier give you anastetic or not. Then use an excavator to take the decay away or use hand drills. Then if the cavity is touching the nerve they mad put a lining in. Afterwards they may use a matrix band to shape the tooth to fill. Then they will use an amalgam carrier to insert the amalgam in the cavity

1 comment:

  1. Amalgam is great for dental restoration! Some patients prefer this procedure 'cause it's somehow inexpensive. On the other hand, it's use is actually declining today, 'cause there are already certain dental filling alternatives available such as silver-palladium, nickel-chrome and other metallic alloys.

    Alejandra Collis

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