Hi everyone this is Dr. Katelyn Fenlon and I’m a general dentist at Princess Center Dentistry in Scottsdale Arizona. I’m answering the question: how do dentists do a filling?

Typically a filling is done because there is decay in the tooth that needs to be removed.

Sometimes a filling is done as bonding for cosmetic reasons.  An example of a filling being used as bonding for cosmetic reasons, is if a tooth is chipped or we want to improve the cosmetic appearance of a tooth

So there’s a series of steps that we have to prepare the tooth prior to putting the filling in to make sure that that filling sticks to the tooth, and lasts a long time.

If we’re doing a filling to fix a cavity we remove the decay and then we bond the filling in place.

Once the filling is in the tooth there are three things dentists check for and do:

  1. Smooth the filling
  2. Polish the filling
  3. Check your bite to make sure you can close your teeth normally

Got a question? Ask our dentist, Dr. Fenlon! Or leave it in a comment below.