My Tooth Doesn’t Hurt… Do I Really Need A Filling?

I get asked some version of this question all the time! It usually goes, “Hey Doc, my tooth doesn’t hurt. Why would I get a filling if I’m not having a problem?”

Let’s compare it to another type of health problem. Let’s say your physician tells you that you have early stage heart disease. How would you feel if he or she said, “Well you’re not having any pain so let’s just wait until it hurts to do anything.” Guess what, by the time it hurts you’re having a heart attack! No one thinks this is a good idea!

Cavities are very similar. Early and mid stage cavities usually have no symptoms that go along with them. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get them treated. By the time you are having symptoms you usually need extensive treatment that could include crowns and/or root canals. These are far more expensive than just a filling and also significantly reduce the lifespan of your tooth. In the worst cases you can end up even losing the tooth.

Another thing people get really frustrated about is when they have cavities that didn’t hurt, then they get them treated, and afterwards the teeth are sensitive or hurt. I can understand the frustration! Nothing hurt before and now they do. Unfortunately this is sometimes part of the process. Every time a tooth is drilled on it can irritate the nerve of the tooth. Everyone’s teeth respond differently to this process and some people have zero symptoms while other people have severe symptoms. I wish this never happened but its unavoidable in certain situations. Even knowing this, it’s still better to get those cavities treated. Waiting will usually cause those cavities to get bigger which will lead to even more problems when you do eventually get them treated.