How Do Dentists Fix Cavities?

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Dr. Larry Klein, I'm a dentist here in St. Petersburg, Florida. A common question that we get is how do dentists fix cavities. Well the first thing you need to know is what kind of causes a cavity and how it forms. So basically a cavity in a tooth is almost, I make the analogy it's almost like a house with a tin roof and an attic underneath and then a room. So if you can picture water going through the tin getting into the attic, filling up the attic with water causing damage and then once it starts to leak into the ceiling then it can cause damage into the whole room. So that basically a cavity is a hole. A hole in the roof. So you have to fix it. So there are different things you can fix that with. You can fix it with a silver filling. Otherwise called an amalgam, you can fix it with a tooth colored filling otherwise called a composite. And those are all just for small holes. For small holes, small cavities you have those types of remedies. For bigger holes then sometimes you have to other things and that can involve inlays and onlays and those can be made out of gold or porcelain or sometimes you have to wrap around the whole tooth and that's called a crown. Otherwise known as a cap. So there are a lot of different ways to fix cavities and it just depends on the material of choice and what the dentist recommends. If you have any questions about how to fix a cavity please get in touch with me Dr. Larry Klein here in St. Petersburg, Florida where a smile is contagious."