Following a leesburg dental filling procedure, most people can expect to experience some swelling and sensitivity with the tooth or teeth that were filled.  When the dentist was removing the cavity and performing the filling work, the dentist may have used one or more anesthetic treatments to provide you with a more tolerable experience.  Depending on what your dentist used, you may have residual numbness which can create its own problems when trying to eat, drink or speak. For your aftercare, the following steps are suggested to promote healing, minimize tooth sensitivity, and inhibit increased swelling.

1. Take note of how swollen and much your mouth and tooth hurt following your dental treatment. Over the course of following days, the pain and swelling should decrease and eventually subside.  If this is not the case, follow up with your dentist.
2. Curbing your physical activity the day of the procedure will allow your body to heal and decrease your discomfort at a faster rate than if you were to exert yourself. Take the day off from marathon training and you will find you will be at full strength without unnecessary swelling or sensitivity sooner.
3. Like with any physical trauma, ice packs are helpful in reducing swelling on the side of the mouth of the filling. Fifteen minute intervals of ice pack application can really increase your comfort level and decrease the acute pain and swelling.
4. Talk to your dentist about using over the counter pain medication to help your recovery be more tolerable. Ibuprofen, acetaminophen and naproxen offer relief from some of the more acute symptoms following your filling procedure.
5. Over the next few hours and days, try to not use straws. Tooth sensitivity can stick around longer due to the effects of the suction.
6. Also, over the next few hours and days choose foods that are soft in texture and don’t require much aggressive chewing. Foods like walnuts and raw carrots create pressure on your teeth while chewing and should be avoided while your mouth is healing.  Sticking to steamed veggies or soft breads are going to help reduce pain and swelling over a garden salad with croutons.
7. Not only should your food consistency change, but the food temperature and pH should be taken into consideration. Enjoying a smoothie may be what you gravitate towards, but if it has yogurt, it may be too acidic for your more sensitive tooth or if it has frozen fruit or ice chunks, it may be too cold and not gentle enough on your new filling.  Mashed potatoes or soup may be too hot as soon as it is prepared and should be given more time to come to room temperature.  And avoiding spicy and citrus foods will help reduce your discomfort over the next few days.

Ultimately, you may be someone who has more sensitive teeth before and after your filling.  After talking with your dentist, you may find some long term relief from tooth sensitivity throughout your mouth from using a soft dental floss, a gentle toothbrush and desensitizing toothpaste.  Keeping up with your proper at home dental hygiene habits with these modified tools will keep your mouth healthy at a less risk of having to go through another filling procedure.

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