Tooth Colored Fillings

At Family Roots Dentistry, composite fillings have become a popular material of choice in modern dentistry to restore and repair teeth. Composite is a safe, tooth-colored, resin material that can be used to treat a variety of treatment scenarios and offers significant advantages compared to other available filling materials.

WHAT ARE REASONS WHY A COMPOSITE FILLING WOULD BE RECOMMENDED?

  • Cavities (tooth decay)
  • Chipped teeth
  • Cracked or broken teeth
  • Worn down teeth
  • Replace old fillings that are worn down or where cavities have recurred
  • Cosmetic enhancement
    • Closing space between two teeth, including “black triangles” (black space that appears between the teeth above the gums)
    • Change shape and/or size of teeth
    • Change alignment of teeth

WHAT ADVANTAGES DOES A COMPOSITE FILLING HAVE OVER AN AMALGAM FILLING?

While amalgam (also known as “silver” or “mercury”) fillings have proven to be effective in restoring and repairing teeth, they do come with their fair share of disadvantages that are making them a thing of the past. Benefits of composite fillings include:

  • Safe
  • Strength and durability
  • Preserves more natural tooth structure
    • Composite fillings are bonded (or “glued”), which means less removable of tooth structure to hold the filling in place- in other words, less drilling! Amalgam fillings rely on mechanical retention, which means that a significant amount of tooth structure often needs to be removed to hold the filling in place.
  • Less chance of the tooth or filling material cracking or breaking
    • Since amalgam fillings are not as conservative as composite fillings, amalgam can weaken the surrounding natural tooth structure which increases its chances of cracking.
  • Esthetic material that blends in with extremely well with natural teeth, especially important on front teeth
    • Can be sculpted to resemble the natural shape of your tooth
    • No dark staining of the tooth, which can happen over time with amalgam fillings
    • No one will know you ever had a cavity or cracked tooth!
  • Easily repaired

For more information or to find out if composite fillings might be the right treatment option for you, please call us at (815) 385-4411 or contact us here.