If you suffer from dental caries, you have to see a dentist for filling to prevent the caries from getting worse.

Why do we need filling？

• To stop pain caused by decayed tooth.
• To restore the shape and functions of the tooth, such as chewing, articulating, aesthetics, and etc.
• To keep the carious deciduous teeth to prevent alignment problem in permanent teeth due to early loss of deciduous teeth.

Overview of filling process

• Remove the decayed tooth structure.
• Place the filling material into the cavity.
• Trim off and polish the filling material.

How many filling materials do you know?

Amalgam

• Colour: Greyish-silver

Composite resin

• Colour: similar to natural tooth colour

Glass Ionomer Cement

• Colour: similar to natural tooth colour

Compomer

• Colour: similar to natural tooth colour

Stainless steel crown

• Colour: Silver. It has different sizes, and it is often used on deciduous molars.

Feeling uncomfortable after filling?
- It takes a few days to adapt to the newly filled tooth. If situation hasn't gradually improved, or has even slowly got worse, you need to see the dentist for a detailed examination.

If a child loses his/her permanent tooth due to an accident, his/her dentist needs to fabricate a temporary denture for him/her.

Purpose
To improve aesthetics by filling the gap left by the missing tooth. To wait until the child's jawbones are fully developed (around 20 years old) to insert a permanent denture/bridge/implant.

Material
Plastic and stainless steel wires.

Procedure

• Impressions of the teeth are taken, and the occlusion is recorded
• The temporary denture is fabricated in the dental laboratory
• The temporary denture is fitted

Points to note

• After fitting a temporary denture, extra attention should be paid to the oral hygiene in order to prevent dental caries and periodontal disease.
• Thoroughly clean the denture and teeth every morning and before bed at night.
• When the temporary denture is not worn, it must be soaked in plain water.
• If severe discomfort is felt when wearing the temporary denture, you must bring your child to the dentist immediately.

What is pulp treatment?
Pulp treatment is necessary if the pulp of a tooth is infected or became necrotic because of trauma or dental caries. The treatment involves partial or complete removal of the pulp and application of filling material to fill up the area.

Knowing more about pulp treatment

• Pulp treatment requires a few visits to complete. Remember to revisit on schedule!
  
• If the filling material has fallen off during the treatment period, you must ask the dentist to refill the material in order to avoid infection caused by bacteria in the saliva.
  
• Local anaesthesia may be required during the treatment. Remember not to bite your lips or tongue before the anaesthesia has worn off.

What is Leong's Premolar?
Some permanent premolars have a projected portion of the tooth structure which is fragile; this kind of premolar is called 'Leong's Premolar'. If the projected portion fractures, the pulp inside the tooth may become necrotic from bacterial infection, or even results in abscess.

If I have a Leong's Premolar, what should I do?

To avoid the projected portion to fracture, the dentist will use the preventive treatments below according to individual need:

• Method 1: Strengthen the projected portion
• Method 2: Remove the projected portion and apply filling to the cavity

If you think you have a Leong's Premolar, you should ask your parents to take you to a dental clinic for a detailed check-up and receive appropriate treatment as soon as possible!

What is orthodontic treatment?

Orthodontic treatment is a series of processes to move poorly aligned teeth to a desirable position.

Orthodontic treatment can：

• Improve aesthetics
• Improve the occlusion and chewing function.

Types of orthodontic appliances

Fixed orthodontic appliance

• Procedure
  1. Placement of orthodontic brackets.
  2. The orthodontic wire and orthodontic brackets are connected by elastics and stainless steel wires (ligatures).
  3. Regular dental revisits are needed according to the instructions of the orthodontist.
  4. After the teeth have moved to favourable positions, a retainer is used to hold and stabilize the teeth in these positions.
     
• How long does a fixed orthodontic treatment take?
  The overall duration lasts for about one and a half to three years. The actual time needed depends on the complexity of treatment.

Removable orthodontic appliance

It is suitable for simple orthodontic treatments.

• Procedure
  1. Impressions of the teeth are taken.
  2. The removable orthodontic appliance is fabricated in the dental laboratory.
  3. The appliance is fitted in the mouth. It is also activated.
  4. Regular dental visits to check the tooth movements and adjust the appliance.

• How long does a removable orthodontic treatment take?
  The overall duration lasts for about 6 to 12 months. The actual time needed depends on the complexity of treatment.

Points to note on orthodontic treatments

• When you are wearing an orthodontic appliance, extra attention towards oral hygiene is needed to prevent dental caries and periodontal disease.
  

• When you are wearing a removable orthodontic appliance, the appliance and teeth must be thoroughly cleaned every morning and evening before wearing it again. Leave the appliance in a cup of water when it is not worn.
  

• If severe discomfort is felt when you are wearing an orthodontic appliance, consult your orthodontist immediately.

Consult the dentist to see whether or not it is necessary for you to undergo orthodontic treatment. Allow him to check your oral situation and explain the treatment to you in detail.

Why do we need to extract a tooth？

• Caries is found on a tooth where we cannot or do not need to repair it.
• For the needs of orthodontic treatment.

Procedure

1. Apply local anaesthesia to let the teeth and oral tissues to get numb.
2. Use dental tools to take the tooth out.
3. Tightly bite on a piece of gauze or cotton roll to help stop bleeding.

Points to note after extraction
For the next 24 hours, you should :

• Not rinse your mouth vigorously
• Not disturb the wound with your tongue or fingers
• Not use alcoholic beverages
• Not do heavy exercise
• Not smoke
• Take pain control medication as recommended

Generally speaking, the wound will gradually heal in 3 to 4 days after the extraction. If discomfort persists even after 4 or 5 days, you should ask your parents to bring you to the dentist for a detailed check-up.

Under what circumstances are fissure sealants needed?

Fissure sealant is a composite sealant; it requires a dental professional to apply it for us.

If there are deep fissures on a tooth, dental plaque can easily accumulate in these areas where toothbrush bristles cannot access to and clean these areas.

In order to prevent these teeth from dental caries, we need to apply fissure sealants to seal these fissures.

Procedures for applying fissure sealants

1. First use diluted acid to etch the surface of the tooth so that the sealant can adhere onto the tooth.

2. Use water to wash away the acid, blow-dry the tooth, and then apply the fissure sealant onto the fissure.

3. Use curing light (a dental light source) to harden the fissure sealant in the fissure.

Why do we need scaling?

Scaling removes the accumulated dental plaque, calculus, and stain from the surfaces of our teeth, which can prevent periodontal disease.

Treatment procedure

1. Use dental instruments or ultrasonic scaling machine to remove calculus.
2. Polish the surfaces of teeth to remove stain and keep the surfaces smooth.

Points to note after scaling
There may be slight discomfort and minor gingival bleeding in the first few days after scaling. Please do not worry. You only need to thoroughly clean your teeth daily, and the discomfort and gingival bleeding will gradually disappear. The gum will become healthy as well.