Fillings are used to repair and seal holes in teeth, much as a mason might fill a hole in your basement wall with cement.  When decay damages a tooth, the dentist removes the damaged part of the tooth, shapes the resulting hole, and fills it up.

For over 100 years - a filling - has meant a silver amalgam restoration.  Amalgam is a mixture of metals which is soft and pliable when mixed, but cures (hardens) in a few minutes to provide a strong hard filling.  Careful preparation of the tooth by the dentist is required because longevity relies on creating a shape inside the tooth which will hold the filling in.  Metal fillings provide reliable service at relatively low cost and have a long history of safety and effectiveness.

In recent years a new composite type of filling material has been developed.  It is made of plastic resin with various sizes and shapes of quartz and other fillers in it.  The major attraction of composites is that they can be made tooth colored, and are far more esthetically pleasing than a chunk of grey metal.  There are several distinct types of composite materials but for simplicity they are lumped together and called white fillings.

 The white fillings rely on adhesive chemistry to hold them in place.  They are bonded (glued) to the tooth.  This method often requires less reshaping of the tooth, but several meticulous steps are required to get the tooth ready for the composite, and then a light is used to cure the material.  The only negative aspects are that the white fillings are more expensive, tend to discolor in time,  and often require replacement more often than similar size metal fillings.  They can also be prone to sensitivity, and take longer to place.  Many patients feel it is worth having the less invasive treatment, more esthetic appearance, and feel they still get adequate service from the white bonded fillings.

Last modified: 05/03/04