Can a cavity heal on its own?

Only at the very first stage. A white spot is enamel that has lost minerals but has not yet broken, and with fluoride, cleaning that spot properly and cutting the sugar frequency it can remineralise. Once the surface has actually collapsed into a hole, no toothpaste, oil or supplement rebuilds it. That is the honest line between prevention and a filling.

Should I replace my old silver fillings?

Not if they are sound. Replacing a healthy amalgam means cutting away more of your tooth for no clinical benefit, and every replacement makes the tooth weaker. We replace an amalgam when it is cracked, leaking, has decay underneath, or the tooth has fractured around it. If you want yours changed for appearance, that is a legitimate choice and we will do it and explain the trade-off first.

Are white fillings as strong as silver ones?

For the great majority of cavities, yes. Modern composite bonds to the tooth rather than just sitting in it, which actually helps hold the remaining structure together. Very large cavities in molars are the exception: there, a filling of any material is being asked to do a job that needs a crown.

The tooth is numbed first, so the appointment should not. Some sensitivity to cold for a few days afterwards is normal, especially on a deep filling. Pain that builds over a week, or that lingers for a minute after something cold, is different and means the nerve is inflamed. Call us if that happens.

How long do fillings last?

Typically five to ten years for composite, often longer on small ones. What ends them is almost always new decay at the edge, not the material wearing out, which is why a check-up and a hygiene visit catch problems while they are still small repairs.

How much does a filling cost in Beirut?

It depends on how many surfaces of the tooth are involved and how deep the decay has gone. You get the figure in writing after the examination and X-ray. A deep cavity that turns out to need a root canal changes the plan, and we stop and tell you before doing anything rather than presenting it afterwards.

Dental Fillings in Beirut — From $40

The four stages, and where the drill starts

Stage	What it means
White spot	Enamel has lost minerals but has not broken. This is the reversible one. Fluoride, cleaning that exact spot properly and reducing how often you eat sugar can remineralise it. No filling needed, and we will tell you so rather than drilling it.
Enamel cavity	The surface has collapsed. It cannot heal, but it is a small, quick, comfortable filling and the nerve is nowhere near involved.
Dentine decay	Through enamel into the softer layer beneath, where it spreads faster and starts to feel sensitive to sweet and cold. Still a filling, but a bigger one.
Into the nerve	Now it is spontaneous pain, pain at night, or pain lingering after something cold. This is past filling territory and needs root canal treatment.

The reason we take X-rays at a check-up is that decay between teeth is invisible to the eye and often painless for years. Catching it at stage one or two is the difference between a twenty-minute appointment and a root canal with a crown.

White composite or silver amalgam?

We place composite, the tooth-coloured material, for essentially all fillings. It matters for more than appearance: composite bonds to the tooth structure rather than being wedged into a shaped hole, so less healthy tooth has to be removed and the remaining walls are supported rather than stressed. Amalgam is durable and has served for over a century, but it requires cutting a mechanically retentive cavity, which means taking away sound tooth that did not need to go.

Should old amalgams be replaced?

Usually not, and we will tell you that even though replacing them would be the more profitable answer. A sound amalgam that is sealed, unbroken and has no decay under it is doing its job. Replacing it removes more tooth, and every re-restoration shortens the tooth's life a little. We do recommend replacing one when it is cracked, leaking, has decay underneath, or the tooth has fractured around it — all of which we can show you on the X-ray or the screen.

If you want amalgams changed for how they look, that is a perfectly reasonable request and we will do it, using high-volume suction and rubber-dam isolation during removal, after explaining that the trade-off is tooth structure. What we will not do is tell you that sound fillings are poisoning you in order to sell the work.

How a filling is done here

Anaesthetic, unless the cavity is genuinely shallow. We would rather numb a small filling than have you tense through it.
Rubber-dam isolation. Standard for every filling. Composite bonds chemically, and that bond fails if saliva reaches the tooth while it is being placed. This is the single biggest reason fillings leak early, and it is entirely preventable.
Only the decay is removed, not a textbook shape. Modern adhesive dentistry is conservative by design.
Layered and cured, shaped to your bite, then polished so the margin is smooth. A rough margin collects plaque and that is where the next cavity starts.
Bite checked before you leave. A filling left slightly high causes days of soreness and takes two minutes to adjust.

Sensitivity afterwards: normal and not normal

Mild cold sensitivity for a few days, and tenderness on biting that improves, are normal, especially after a deep filling. What is not normal is pain that increases over the week, wakes you at night, or lingers for a minute or more after cold. That pattern means the nerve is inflamed rather than settling, and it is worth a call rather than a wait. Sometimes a high spot is all it is, which is a thirty-second fix.

When a filling is the wrong answer

There is a point where a tooth has lost too much structure for a filling to hold it together, and placing a bigger filling just delays a fracture. Signs we look for: the cavity involves most of the chewing surface, one or more cusps are undermined, there is an existing crack, or the tooth already has a large old restoration that keeps breaking. At that point a crown is the honest recommendation, and we will show you why on the photograph rather than asking you to take it on trust.

Not getting the next one

Decay needs bacteria, a fermentable sugar and time. You cannot remove the bacteria, so the levers are the other two. Frequency matters more than quantity: one dessert does less damage than six sweet coffees spread across a day, because each exposure restarts the acid attack. Brush twice daily with fluoride toothpaste and do not rinse with water afterwards, clean between the teeth once a day, and keep a hygiene visit every six months so the next one is found as a white spot rather than a root canal.

What a filling costs in Lebanon

A composite filling starts at $40. A small single-surface cavity sits at the starting figure; a large filling rebuilding several surfaces of a molar costs more, and a tooth too broken for a filling needs a crown instead, which is a different treatment at a different price. We will tell you which of the two yours is at the examination, not after starting.

The examination itself is $20, and it is deducted from the cost of treatment if you go ahead — so if you are treated here, the examination has cost you nothing.

Fillings in Beirut, and the one stage that still reverses.