How long after my filling do I have to wait until I can eat?

This is a question I hear every day.  The white fillings that you get today are composite resins (very Old filling, Dr Steven Rosenblat Oakville Dentisthard and wear resistant “plastic / ceramic” mixtures).  You may notice that when these fillings are made in your mouth, we use a use a special light to cure (set) the composite.  This makes the fillings as hard as they are going to be, right away. 

When the old silver amalgam fillings are placed (not often these days), they are soft for at least one hour.  So, we use to have to tell patients to wait one hour before chewing as the fillings were soft and would fracture if used too soon.  This does not happen with today’s composite resins- you can chew immediately.  The real question is, do you want to?  While the fillings are ready to go, you are most probably still anaesthetized ( ie frozen) and may not be able to feel your lips and tongue.  Eating while you are frozen can cause injury or burns if you like hot coffee.

So a word of advice, if your dental appointment is at lunchtime, maybe a light meal before will keep you from having to worry about when you can eat.