Simple fillings at home
A cavity does not need a clinic. It needs a dentist, a portable unit and a good light — all of which fit in a case.
Older people get decay in a different place from children: at the necks of the teeth, where gums have receded and a dry mouth has taken away the saliva that used to protect them. Left alone it turns into pain, then an abscess, then an extraction that could have been a twenty-minute filling.
We place fillings at home with the portable unit — a drill, air, water and light in one case — using the same tooth-coloured and glass-ionomer materials a clinic uses. Local anaesthetic makes it comfortable; the patient's own chair makes it calm.
Who this is for
- Anyone with a cavity, a chipped tooth or a filling that has come out
- Older people with root decay from a dry mouth
- Nursing home residents, seen on a clinic day
- People too anxious or too unwell for a clinic
What happens on the visit
Confirm the tooth
The examination and, where needed, a digital X-ray confirm that the tooth can be filled rather than needing root treatment or extraction. If it cannot, we say so and explain the options.
Numb it properly
Local anaesthetic, given slowly. Most patients feel pressure and vibration, not pain.
Remove decay and fill
The portable unit does what the clinic drill does. The filling is placed, shaped and, for a tooth-coloured filling, set with a curing light. For a patient who cannot open wide for long, a glass-ionomer filling is quicker and kinder.
Check the bite
A filling that is high hurts within a day. We check the bite before we leave and adjust it, and we tell the family what to watch for.
Afterwards
Numbness wears off in an hour or two; we ask that hot drinks wait until it has. Mild sensitivity for a few days is normal. Pain on biting is not, and a phone call fixes it.
Cost and cover
Fillings are covered under the DTSS for eligible medical card holders, subject to the scheme's limits. Private fillings are quoted before the visit. See what a visit costs and every way it can be paid for.
Questions families ask about this
If your question is not answered here, please give us a call — it is quicker than a form.
Is it safe to have a filling done at home?
Yes. The portable unit is the same technology as the clinic chair, the materials are the same, and infection control is the same. What we cannot do at home is treatment that needs a hospital.
What if the tooth is worse than it looked?
We tell you at the visit. Sometimes a tooth that looked fillable needs to come out, or needs a root treatment we would rather do at one of our bases. We never carry on with something that has become the wrong plan.
Can someone with dementia have a filling?
Often, yes, especially a quick glass-ionomer filling that needs less time with the mouth open. We judge it person by person and never force it.
Arrange a visit
Tell us who the patient is and where they are, and we will phone you back the same working day with what a visit would involve and what it is likely to cost.