“How long do I have to wait to eat after a dental filling?”
I am a 26 year old male with a dental filling next week. I don't want to wait all day to eat. How long do I have to wait to eat after a dental filling?
13 Answers
That depends on what type of restoration was placed and the location. A white or composite restoration is cured (or hardened) by a light. So it’s ready to be chewed on. A silver or amalgam filling requires to 24 hour waiting period to reach its hardest set. I tell my patients if their tongue was numbed for the procedure to not chew anything until it is not numb to prevent any biting of it.
As soon as the anesthesia wears off you can eat
Until there is no more numbness in your mouth and/or lips.
The answer to that question is not black and white. Is it a composite filling or a silver filling. I hope it is composite. Is it an upper or a lower filling. Composite fillings are fully cured in less than a minute so the only thing to delay eating would be how slow the anesthetic is in running its course. I would expect within 30 minutes for an upper filling and 1 hour for a lower filling. Good luck
First you’ll want to wait or be very cautious while the numbness lasts, secondly the type of filling is important. Silver fillings take longer to set up (lite diet for 24 hrs.). White fillings (Composite resin) set up immediately.
If the filling is composite, it's light cured to harden when filled. So you can eat right away. However, usually your mouth is numb, so you should wait until the numbness goes away to avoid accidental biting of the tongue, lips or cheek. Anesthetic lasts one or two more hours after the procedure. For amalgams, if it's still used, it should be avoided to eat maybe till next day.
Just a couple hours until the numbness goes away.
David M Garazi, DMD
David M Garazi, DMD
That depends. if you receive a local dental anesthetic injection, you might want to wait until you not longer feel numb. You don't want to bite your lips or leak food/drink past your numb lips. If you don't receive an anesthetic, you can eat immediately after a white bonded filling. You need to wait about one hour if your receive a silver amalgam filling.
Depending on the type of restorative material, you will be able to eat as soon as the local anesthesia wears off. Tooth colored restorations
are the usual choice. Most dentists prefer tooth colored material. The advances with the new "resins" and the uniformity of the shade guides makes blending of the restoration with your natural tooth almost undetectable. There was a time when a tooth had 2-3-4 different shades on one tooth. If for some reason, you choose to have a "silver filling" listen to your dentist. With silver restoration you may be told to wait a certain amount of time before you eat on the side where the "silver filling" was placed.
are the usual choice. Most dentists prefer tooth colored material. The advances with the new "resins" and the uniformity of the shade guides makes blending of the restoration with your natural tooth almost undetectable. There was a time when a tooth had 2-3-4 different shades on one tooth. If for some reason, you choose to have a "silver filling" listen to your dentist. With silver restoration you may be told to wait a certain amount of time before you eat on the side where the "silver filling" was placed.
Need to wait until anesthesia wears off...the filling will be set in seconds. It's more about biting your tongue or cheek. There is a reversal agent for local anesthesia. Ask your dentist to get some! Cheap and great value added. I stopped restorative as a rule seven years ago. But the principles are universal and timeless. Materials dramatically better. Ask questions, make sure you understand procedure....no upsells! You will do fine. Dentists as a group always put patients first. Regards, Dr. Mick
You should wait until all the local anesthesia has worn off before eating after a filling.
Usually a patient can eat 1-2 hours after the procedure when the anesthesia wears off.
There is no waiting time for White fillings
