Tooth filling

[Stephanie]

Hi

My dentist did a filling on my front tooth last week and everything was fine afterwards but this morning a chunk of material came off my tooth filling and I almost swallowed it. Looking at the piece that broke, it looks like its a piece of material although I am not 100% sure.

My tooth is not aching but feels a bit sharp. I am worried that the tooth might break and really would like to know why this filling has broken in just one week. My other teeth fillings in the past have always lasted for many years.

Are there any teeth filling material that is stronger that I could ask my dentist to use so that this does not happen again. How soon should I go back to see my dentist about this issue.

[Dr Vahid Motahar]

Hi,

Thank you for your question.

You should see a dentist to assess your filling to make sure everything is fine and that there are no sharp edges and so on. BUt you should not worry much about the tooth. It is not common but sometimes if a filling is too large in size and in heavy contact a bit of it might chip off.

The most common material for front tooth filling is composite fillings and they are strong. Most likely what your tooth need is just replacement or repair of the restoration and making sure your bite does not put too much load on the filling. If the size of the filling is too large, then other form of restoration might be needed but to tell you more about this I must see you and assess it clinically.