I took Science Wednesday to the dentist, I’m still not sure if she was amused or not. I had two cavities, I’ve never had cavities before, so I decided to document the process to shed some light on the process.

First, the dentist stuck benzocaine gel to numb my gums around the cavity. Once my gums were numb, she administered a shot of articaine, which fully numbed the area and nerves… and remained numb for a while.

Once everything was nice and numb, she inserted a dental dam to isolate the rotting teeth and protect the rest of my mouth from the drill and chemicals..

The dentist drilled the decayed part of my tooth (cavity) to made a giant hole. The hole was filled with scaffolding and composite resin, which were liquid at the time. A bright ultraviolet light was used to quickly harden the filling, a process called photo-polymerization. My full tooth strength and function were restored! It took me six hours to feel the left side of the face.

Fillings are important and small cavities easy to fix. If not treated, these small inconveniences can result in root canal, crown, or extraction.