Dental fillings are one of the best tools a dentist has in their arsenal to treat cavities and other types of tooth damage. While most people are familiar with dental fillings, it's very common for people to think that you have to be numbed for the drilling and filling process. In reality, that's not necessarily the case. Here's how to know when and why numbing is used.

Where Pain Starts

The vast majority of your tooth isn't actually capable of hurting. That may sound odd, but in reality, the nerves of your tooth are deep down inside the tooth in a part called the pulp. This is the innermost core of your tooth, deeper than the dentin or enamel on the outside. This is why biting down on your teeth every day doesn't make you feel any pain unless you have a problem going on deep down in the tooth.

No Numbing Needed

In most cases, injected numbing agents are used to help prevent people from experiencing discomfort or pain while their tooth or teeth are drilled. However, if you have a shallow cavity, this might not be necessary.

Cavities that have only just barely started to break into the tooth don't require numbing. Without a numbing agent, you're likely to feel the vibrations of the drill, but nothing more. However, this is only true of shallow cavities. Your dentist will be able to tell if you need pain reliever by examining your tooth and the X-rays they took of your mouth to determine how deeply your cavity has gone.

When to Ask

You have options when you have a tooth filled. If your tooth has a shallow cavity, you can ask to forego the numbing. This is useful if you're nervous around needles or are taking a medication that could conflict with the numbing agent.

Alternatively, even if a cavity is shallow, you can always ask to be numbed. Dentists don't want you to experience any kind of discomfort during a procedure, so your dentist should be willing to accommodate you. In addition, if you start to experience any sort of pressure or discomfort in your tooth while you're being treated, make sure to stop your dentist and let them know. This may mean that they're coming close enough to the nerve for you to start feeling it, and asking for more pain relief or for the first shot of Novocaine to be provided is completely called for.

Dentists will numb patients most of the time to have their teeth drilled and filled, if only because it means that there won't be any unexpected discomfort. However, if you know that your cavity is minor or you simply need an old filling replaced, you can ask your dentist about skipping the numbing injection and going without it.

To learn more about getting numbed during dental filling procedures, contact a local dentistry clinic like Tijeras Dental Service.