How to Tell if You Need a New Filling

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately, that’s true when it comes to your dental fillings. Although your filling may have saved your tooth during a cavity, the average composite filling only lasts 10 to 15 years, but sometimes it can last a lot longer. If you have had a filling for at least that long, you may be wondering when on earth you should have it replaced? Let’s go over a few signs.

Food Gets Stuck In One Spot

Does it seem like every time you eat a meal that you’re always picking food out of one part of your mouth? When a filling falls out, it opens back up that hole in your tooth which make sit easy for food to get trapped inside of it. Until you get your filling redone, try rinsing your tooth with water after you eat to get rid of any bacteria, extra food, or germs.

Tooth Sensitivity

Often, when a filling falls out, it can cause a lot of tooth sensitivity. If you have started to experience tooth sensitivity to both hot and cold food when you go to eat something, then this may be a sign that you need to get a new dental filling.

A hole in your tooth

The most significant way for you to spot whether or not you have a missing filling is to look at your tooth. Is there a black or brown spot on it? Does it seem like there’s a hole in the tooth? These are all signs that your filling fell out and that you need to have it replaced.

General Tooth Pain

If you are experiencing general tooth pain in the tooth that has a filling in it, then you may need to have a filing put on the tooth again, or it may be a sign that you have new bacteria in your tooth and that you need a root canal.

If you suspect that you have a missing filling, but you aren’t sure, then schedule a dental appointment with us and call our Albuquerque office at (505) 881-1159.