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Can I Eat After Receiving A White Filling?

Posted on 5/22/2023 by Office of Dr. James A. Krippaehne

A dentist will ask you to take a few hours without eating anything because the discomfort and swelling around the treated tooth along with the not-yet-worn-down anesthetic effects, make it hard to chew properly. Although it's generally advisable not to eat anything the moment you have had a filling done, there is more to this question. In most cases, it depends on how quickly the filling hardens.

How Long a Composite Filling takes to Harden

In those days when amalgam filling was the gold standard for restoring cavitated teeth, dentists used to ask their patients to refrain from consuming anything from the side of the restored tooth for about 24 hours. The obvious reason for this was that amalgam fillings need a much time to harden, say around a day or so. Drinking or eating anything before that would place you in danger of chipping or fracturing the fillings, which would necessitate a root canal treatment.

Nonetheless, nowadays patients prefer white-colored fillings more than amalgam fillings due to aesthetic reasons. In addition to being aesthetically more pleasant, white fillings have another benefit in that they harden pretty quickly. As such, you don't have to wait that long before you can eat after getting a composite filling for your tooth.

Eating After a Composite Filling

White resin fillings harden quickly, and for this reason, there would be no harm if you eat or drink immediately after receiving one. The only problem is that the pain and swelling around the treated tooth can make it difficult to chew food optimally. As such, a dentist would usually suggest that you wait for about two hours before eating or drinking after your composite dental filling.

Foods You Can Eat

It's a nice idea to consider eating a soft diet for about 24 to 48 hours following a cavity filling. You don't want to put excessive pressure on your just restored tooth. Avoiding solid foods will give time for the healing to start and continue uninterrupted. You may enjoy porridge, scrambled eggs, and your favorite soups; just anything soft enough that doesn't require chewing.

Talk to us about composite fillings and other forms of tooth restorations we have to see what works for you.

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Dr. James Krippaehne

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833 SW 11th Ave Suite 300
Portland, OR 97205

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Dental Blog | West End Dental | Portland, OR
West End Dental, 833 SW 11th Ave, Suite 300 Portland, OR 97205 / (503) 446-2957 / west-end-dental.com / 3/22/2025 / Page Keywords: dentist Downtown Portland /