What happens after your childs filling procedure? | Dental Treatment Guide


After the filling has been put into your child's tooth, they may experience some degree of discomfort. It is probable that this discomfort is a result of the tooth's pulp or some gum tissue located close to the tooth being subject to irritation. For most children, this pain and discomfort should subside within a day or two. This pain can be relieved using ibuprofen, which is specially designed for children and a common child ibuprofen is called Motrin. If the pain does not ease after a number of days then you are advised to contact the dentist who performed the filling procedure.

Also, due to the local anaesthetic used during the procedure, your child's tooth and the surrounding area will be numb for several hours after the treatment. This can cause problems if your child sucks, bites or chews using the numb area as this can subsequently lead to injury. You should warn your child and monitor them closely to try and prevent them from biting the affected area until the local anaesthetic completely wears off. To further prevent further damage during this numb period, you should only feed your child soft foods to avoid them accidently biting their cheeks or lips. Their normal diet can be resumed one the feeling has returned.

Another issue with the use of local anaesthetic during the filling procedure is that they can occasionally come in contact with the blood vessels in the gum. This can cause areas under the skin to bleed and produce a small swelling. You may see this as a little lump on your child's cheek or it may even appear like a small bruise on the cheek. This is relatively rare and is thought to only occur in about 5% of young filling patients. Despite it being a visible issue, it should not require any treatment and should regress within a few days. This can speed up with the application of ice wrapped in a towel – never put the ice directly onto the skin.

It is not uncommon for a filling needing to be adjusted. This is often because the child feels it is too "high" whenever they bite down. If this is the case, you should contact your dentist so book an appointment so the tooth and/or filling can be altered in shaped to fit the mouth and bite better. Sometimes, however, further treatment is not required, as the filling just needs time to settle into the tooth after the procedure.

Further Information Childrens Dental Treatments