Scenario: You come in to the dental office for a filling. The dentist does the drill; however, you were informed that the filling is just temporary and you would have to come back. You never did. And now you’re in pain. The temporary dental cement is gone.
When dentists ask their patients to come back – they should. It’s not merely a case of a simple follow up. While, yes, it could be, to check on the condition of whatever procedure they did and have a status update. But there are times that patients just don’t come back.
Reasons? It is because the restoration or prosthesis looks okay. Looks okay. Rather subjective, right? A patient does not exactly know what looks okay inside the oral cavity. In this simple case of temporary filling gone wrong, it is obviously not.
This is because it is, indeed, temporary. And it would be just stating the obvious that something temporary should be replaced with something permanent. Dental cement that is used as a temporary filling should be replaced immediately.
Why the dentist opts for a temporary dental cement is primarily due to observation purposes. This happens in cases wherein the cavity is too deep. A temporary filling is placed instead of a permanent one because there are still hanging questions that could not be answered at the moment. These instances could be due to:
1. The depth of the cavity does not assure a decay-free one. There are times wherein the dentist has been drilling for quite some time yet all the soft dentin has not been removed. This is because the dentin could be badly decayed that it has reached the deepest part – probably deep into the pulp.
2. There is unexplained pain during drilling that requires further analysis. Radiographs could be necessary to determine if the tooth should be treated with more than a filling. It could perhaps be a root canal or antibiotic therapy due to underlying infection.
3. The temporary dental cement does not only act as protection to the exposed dentin. Usually, these temporary fillings have medicating substances which could help mitigate the pain.
In such conditions, the affected tooth is placed “under surveillance.” The open cavity should not be left open nor should it be filled with a permanent dental cement or filling either. This is because the temporary filling will eventually be replaced by a permanent one once there is a guarantee that it does not require other modalities of treatment. Drilling would be easier then.
With a permanent filling that is used when there are still uncertainties, it causes:
1. Pain or discomfort. Permanent fillings are laser treated and end up being hard resins. This creates pressure on the underlying tooth structure. This will cause additional pain to the soft dentin or the unexplained pain that a patient has been initially complaining about. Worse, it might lead to an infection.
2. Difficulty. Temporary dental cement is easier to drill out. Permanent cement are definitely harder, thus, the difficulty in drilling them out.
So, again, if the dentist gives you a follow up appointment slip, do as ordered. They won’t give out orders for nothing. It is still for your own good.
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