Fillings
Fillings
A treatment to restore decayed teeth
Teeth can decay and develop cavities. We all have natural bacteria in our mouth that put us at risk of dental decay. These bacteria feed on substances such as sugar and turn the sugar into acid. This acid weakens the surface of our teeth and creates holes (the tooth ‘decays’). The same effect comes from consumption of fizzy drinks due to the bubbles in fizzy drinks also being made from acid.
They can also be damaged by trauma (e.g. sports injuries, forceful tooth brushing etc).
Decayed and broken tooth tissue can be replaced with amalgam (silver) or more modern composite (white) filling materials. These are tried and trusted techniques for restoration of decayed teeth. Composite materials can also be used to repair cracked or broken teeth, thereby restoring them to a natural shape.
Both fillings materials are placed after removal of any tooth decay and provide an effective surface to bite upon and prevent further ingress of decay rendering your tooth healthy.
However, there are differences between the materials.
Amalgam (silver) fillings are made of an alloy of metals (one component of which is Mercury). They are a very strong material and can be placed successfully in the majority of situations up to a certain size.
They have the disadvantages of requiring more of your sound tooth to be drilled away to provide an anchor for the filling, thereby reducing the strength of the remaining tooth. Amalgam does not form a direct bond to the natural tooth tissue which limits the support it can provide to your natrual tooth tissue. They are grey/silver in colour and therefore are visibly different from your tooth.
Composite fillings do actually bond to and give significantly more support to your remaining tooth. They usually require less drilling of the affected tooth thereby preserving as much of your tooth as possible. Thankfully they are white and can be colour-matched to your tooth providing a much more cosmetically pleasing result.
Before & after
