What to Do if You Have a Hole in Your Tooth: Next Steps, Treatment, and Costs
Table of Contents
- Causes
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Complications If Untreated
- Diagnosis
- Prevention
- Risk Factors
- Frequently Asked Questions
- References
What to do when you have a cavity depends on how serious it is when you discover it. A trip to the dentist is the first step, followed by any home remedies you want to try ahead of your dental visit.
Holes sometimes form on your tooth’s surface because of damage from tooth decay. These holes are known as dental cavities, or caries, and they affect 90 percent of American adults.
If you do not experience any pain, you can get away with caring for the tooth with regular brushing and flossing. (Although be careful with that tooth.) If pain is part of the problem, over-the-counter numbing gels can help.
Once you get to the dentist, you are likely to get a filling, crown, or root canal to fix the hole.
Causes of a Hole in Your Tooth
Tooth holes form mainly because of sugary food and bacteria that are almost always present in your mouth. Some bacteria are harmless (normal flora), while others are harmful.
When harmful bacteria interact with the sugary food, they form plaque, an acidic component that erodes your teeth. Plaque accumulates if you don’t clean your teeth after meals. If it is not removed, plaque eventually creates holes in your teeth.
Holes can also result if you clench and grind your teeth (bruxism). Night-time teeth grinding is common but should be treated.
Constant grinding can crack your enamel (the white part of your teeth), and those cracks can grow large enough to form tooth holes.
Symptoms
In the early stages of tooth decay, you might not experience any symptoms. Time will take care of that if you are not taking care of your teeth with regular brushing and flossing.
But the early signs of the cavities include white spots forming in the affected areas of the teeth, indicating that the is breaking down. An early hole appears, displaying a light brown color.
The tooth decay will progress to its middle and late stages. You could experience one or more of the following symptoms:
Severe pain from the affected teeth
Sensitivity to foods that are too cold or hot
Facial swelling
Pus formation around the affected teeth
Treatment
Holes in your teeth can cause permanent damage if left untreated. Treating the cavities depends on their severity, but treatment options include the following:
Home remedies
Fillings
Crowns
Root canals
Some online content suggests that home remedies can treat tooth decay, but this is not true. There is no way to fill up a tooth cavity or treat it at home.
The best you can hope for is relieving the symptoms of cavities. It would be best to visit the dentist for proper tooth hole treatment.
However, there are drug store products that can help you deal with any pain associated with the cavity. Over-the-counter numbing gels can help. Warm saltwater rinses can also help.
Obviously, home remedies are a cheaper treatment option, with many drug store pain relievers costing less than $10. But again, these are only options to treat the pain temporarily. They will not address the problem.
Dentists can use a refilling material such as resin to restore the eroded surface of teeth. The dentist first removes the decayed part of your tooth and then refills the holes using a dental filling.
Dental insurance will usually cover all or some of the filling costs. Without insurance, fillings can cost about $150 to $400 for the most common metal (silver amalgam) or composite types. Porcelain fillings, also called inlays, may be more expensive and range from $300 to $4,000.
If the cavity has progressed to most parts of your tooth, you might need a crown replacement. The dentist first removes parts of your tooth and then fits an artificial tooth crown into the regions of the affected tooth.
Crowns can be costly. Many dental plans will cover some or all of the costs for a crown that is needed for dental purposes (rather than cosmetic purposes). Without insurance, a crown may cost around $900 to $2,500, depending on the material. Other procedures, like a temporary filling or x-rays, may also be necessary and add to the bill.
Root canals treat cavities that are severe enough to have reached your tooth’s pulp, which is the inner part of your tooth. During the procedure, the dentist first removes the damaged pulp and replaces it with a filling.
Most dental policies will cover some or all of the costs for a root canal. Without insurance, a root canal may cost around $1,000.
Complications if a Hole in the Tooth is Left Untreated
If you notice any holes in your teeth, take immediate action and treat them. If you don’t, you may face some dental complications such as these:
Bone loss or osteoporosis
Tooth fracture
Bone infection
Tooth abscess
Severe toothache
Difficulty chewing, which might cause nutritional problems
Diagnosis
Dentists will ask about the extent of pain you are feeling and then conduct a physical examination to observe the nature of the hole. A tooth exam will require the following instruments:
Light source
Dental mirror
Explorer
Dental radiographs (x-rays) are also necessary, especially if the cavities are between the teeth.
Prevention
One of the best ways to prevent tooth holes is regular brushing. Other ways of preventing tooth holes include the following:
Adjust your diet. Cut back on foods and drinks with a lot of sugar. Also, avoid foods that tend to stick to your teeth. Drinking water between meals will help rinse your mouth of excess sugars.
Floss. Brushing your teeth isn’t enough. Flossing helps to clean parts of your teeth you cannot access with a toothbrush.
Avoid smoking. Smoking tobacco is one of the main reasons behind many oral ailments, including dental caries.
Risk Factors
In most cases, cavities come from poor dental hygiene. However, you might be more susceptible to it than others because of the following factors:
Poor diet: Your chances of getting tooth holes increase if you take in a lot of sugary foods. Sugar provides fuel to form the acidic plaque that causes tooth decay.
Low saliva production: Saliva is crucial to washing the plaque from your teeth. It also has properties that counteract the plaques’ acidic effects. Some drugs, such as antidepressants and muscle relaxants, can reduce your saliva production.
Age: Infants and toddlers, especially those who drink from bottles, are at a higher risk of developing cavities. If you are an older adult, your chances increase because of receded gums and worn-out teeth.
Low fluoride consumption: Fluoride is an essential compound for your teeth. It helps strengthen them, preventing damage by tooth decay.
Frequently Asked Questions
A dentist can fix a hole in your tooth, usually with a filling. Don’t attempt to fix a hole in your tooth on your own.
If you ignore a tooth hole, it will not go away. It will keep growing and affecting other teeth. Eventually, it can cause abscesses, leading to an infection.
A tooth hole is not an emergency if it is still tiny and in its early stages. But it becomes an emergency if it enlarges and starts causing pain and excessive gum bleeds.