Cavity Fillings
Cavities & Fillings
Painless Cavity Treatment Riverside, CA
Painlessly Treat Your Dental Cavities in Riverside, CA
Cavity Fillings, Riverside, California
Toothaches, tooth sensitivity to temperature, and bad breath can all be signs of a tooth cavity wreaking havoc on your mouth. What is a cavity? A cavity is a hole or pit in a tooth that is formed by tooth decay. At Gold Coast Dental Riverside, our dentists are experts at diagnosing and treating tooth decay and cavities. Our dental office always does its best to treat you at the first signs of your cavity forming. Tooth decay symptoms include: toothache, pain when biting down or chewing, sensitivity to hot and cold or sweets, white or discolored spots on your tooth, visible hole in your tooth, halitosis (persistent bad breath or taste in your mouth), swelling and bleeding gums, tooth abscess.
After a comprehensive examination of your mouth, our dentists will plan the proper tooth decay treatment for you. From a cavity filling or crown to a root canal or extraction, we’re committed to giving you the incredible and thorough dental care you deserve to get your smile back to its former glory. Our dentists are caring and attentive to your specific dental needs. We do our best to make sure that, no matter the procedure, you always have a pain- and stress-free experience in our office. Our Riverside dental office uses high-grade anesthetic, which locally numbs the area where we’ll work to ensure you won’t feel a thing. Don’t settle for dealing with toothaches and pain any longer! We’re here to help you in your time of need with our flexible variety of tooth decay treatment options.
Call our office at (951) 688-6000 to book an appointment with our talented dentists today.
Tooth Decay Stages
Our caring dentists want to make sure you can recognize the signs of your tooth decay and come in for the proper treatment
Dental cavities don’t appear on their own but instead form as plaque, bacteria, and tartar build up and harden on your teeth, leading to the earliest tooth decay stages. The earlier you come into our Riverside dental office for treatment, the easier we can help your smile.
Stage 1
In the first phase of tooth decay, plaque and bacteria on your teeth begin to weaken your tooth’s outer enamel layer. As the enamel is demineralized, a white spot called a lesion appears on the surface. At this stage, the damage to your tooth can be reversed by remineralizing the tooth through fluoride treatment.
Stage 2
Without minerals keeping it strong, the enamel begins to be broken down by plaque and bacteria. Without treatment like dental fillings, the decay will continue to eat away at the enamel until it breaks through to reveal the dentin layer below. When the dentin is exposed, a dental cavity has formed.
Stage 3
Dentin is softer than enamel, and the tooth infection begins to wear away faster at your dental tissue. You may begin feeling pain in your tooth at this stage. As the pit made by the cavity begins to deepen, a typical tooth filling may not be enough to restore your smile, and a dental crown may be needed instead.
Stage 4
After the infection passes through the dentin layer, it reaches the soft, sensitive dental pulp at the center of your tooth. Your cavity pain may worsen into a toothache as the dental pulp contains the tooth’s blood vessels and nerves. To clear the infection and remove the damaged tissue, your dentist will most likely perform a root canal procedure.
Stage 5
In the last stage of a cavity, the infection makes its way down to the bottom of the tooth and begins to inflame the surrounding tissue and bone. Pus begins to form in a pocket known as an abscess, even as the tooth decay continues to attack the tooth’s pulp. A root canal is essential at this point to save your tooth.
How do you know if you have a cavity?
SENSITIVITY TO SWEETS
Similar to temperature sensitivity, a lingering discomfort from sweets is often a result of damage to the enamel and, more specifically, the start of a cavity. We eat candy and candy eats us
STAINING ON or hole IN TOOTH
Stains on your tooth may first appear as white spots. As the tooth decay becomes more advanced, the stain can become darker. Staining caused by a cavity can be brown, black, or white, and typically appears on the surface of the tooth. Some holes, especially those in between your teeth or in crevices, can’t be seen or felt.
TOOTHACHE
Sometimes this ache can come on suddenly, or it can happen as a result of something you eat. This includes pain and discomfort in or around your mouth. You may also feel pain and pressure when you bite down on food.
Hot and cold sensitivity
Sensitivity that lingers after eating hot or cold food could be a sign that you have a cavity.
Root Canal vs. Tooth Extraction
Our dental staff does our best to keep your smile as healthy as possible, no matter which cavity treatment you receive
Once an abscess forms in the final stage of tooth decay, it becomes a race to treat you in time. In this critical moment, the question becomes which procedure is best for you: a root canal or tooth extraction? At Gold Coast Dental Riverside, our caring and understanding staff makes sure you’re always prepared to make the right decision for your smile. A root canal procedure is meant to get rid of all of the bacteria and infection that have been destroying your tooth’s dental pulp. This also includes removing any damaged and infected tissue, which often goes all the way down to the root of your tooth in these last-phase cavities. The inner canal of your tooth is then disinfected and filled with a rubbery material called gutta-percha. Sometimes, however, even a root canal cannot save your tooth.
When the nerves and blood vessels acting as the beating heart of your tooth become too damaged, the tooth dies. At this point, the only thing our dentists can do for your smile is to remove the tooth entirely with a tooth extraction, preventing the decay and infection from spreading to the surrounding teeth, tissues, and jawbone. Extractions are a last resort option for our dentists because it is always our goal to keep your smile as healthy and intact as possible. While our office offers a variety of amazing tooth replacement options, nothing can quite beat a real tooth. We always do our best to ensure you preserve as much of your natural smile as possible because we care about your long-term oral health. Need to schedule a dental decay consultation at our Riverside dental office?
Contact us today at (951) 688-6000.
We Make Your Treatment Process Easy
Count on our expert dentists to give you the dental cavity care possible
Cavities are no problem for our talented and experienced dental staff at Gold Coast Dental Riverside. We’ve been taking care of tooth decay and infection just like yours for years, and we know the ins and outs of the treatment process like the back of our hands. Whether you need a dental filling or extraction, we’re here to help you with your specific needs without any pain or stress on your part. We do whatever we can to make your procedure as discomfort-free as possible, and we also offer a variety of entertainment options in each of our patient suites to make the time fly as we work.
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Does it hurt to fill a cavity?
Filling a cavity is totally painless! In fact, all of our cavity treatments make you feel little to no discomfort at all in the dental chair. Our office uses safe and strong local anesthetic that numbs the area around your tooth so totally that you should only ever feel a bit of discomfort.
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Why do I get cavities even though I brush and floss?
Unfortunately, brushing and flossing alone isn’t always enough to keep your teeth squeaky clean and healthy. Without regular visits to our office for a dental cleaning every 6 months, plaque and bacteria can still accumulate on your tooth and make their mark.
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What does a cavity look like?
A cavity is a hole in your tooth, and depending on the location of yours, it may be fully visible. You may also see white, brown, or dark spots around your cavity as plaque and bacteria try to wear away at the enamel surrounding your tooth cavity.
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Is it necessary to fill cavities in baby teeth?
Unless your child’s baby tooth is about to fall out on its own soon, you should always have their cavities treated. A tooth infection won’t stop at just the baby tooth; it will continue to spread to both nearby baby teeth and the permanent tooth below waiting to erupt. Untreated cavities can lead to serious jaw and mouth development problems that can affect their smile for years to come.
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What is the best material for dental fillings?
Dentists used to use silver amalgam in their dental fillings, but amalgam not only spoiled the natural look of patients’ smiles but raised health concerns due to their mercury content. Our office uses only composite resin fillings as it is the best and safest material available. Composite is shade-matched to the rest of your smile and can restore your tooth’s natural appearance.
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Will my insurance cover a filling?
Most dental insurance plans cover most, if not all, of your cavity filling cost. Our dental office accepts all PPO insurance, as well as most HMO plans. If you have any concerns about the cost of your procedure, don’t hesitate to call us at (951) 688-6000.
Contact
Our Office Hours
Tue/Wed/Fri/Sat 7am - 7pm
Schedule an Appointment Online
or call: (951) 494-2902
Our Address
4595 La Sierra Avenue
Riverside, CA 92505