A dental filling is placed to close a hole in a tooth, or to repair a fractured tooth and restore it back to natural form and function.
When a tooth has decayed, the dentist cleans out the decay and creates a hole which is then plugged using a dental filling material.
There are various filling materials which can be used:
- resin
- amalgam
- gold
- porcelain
Sometimes, when the decay is deep or there has been tooth fracture, it can harm the nerve of the tooth. Despite the dentist’s best efforts, the nerve can die after a filling is done. This all depends on the health of the nerve initially, the patient’s age and other attributing factors.