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Tooth-Colored Fillings

Coming home from the dentist after getting a filling used to mean coming home with a tooth that looked like someone had melted some loose change into it. Dental amalgam fillings—about 50% silver with the rest being made up of mercury, tin, and copper—are a dental tradition that goes back well over a hundred years.

Silver amalgam fillings are certainly a tried-and-true solution for filling in decayed portions of teeth, but there’s something to be said for being able to look in a mirror while brushing and see a nice, uniform set of teeth in your mouth, with no metal peeking through.

That’s why it’s a good thing that fillings, as is the case with many things in the world of dentistry, have come a long way over the years. There are now composite resin materials that can be colored in various shades. The variety of shades available allows dentists to nicely match the natural color of each patient’s teeth.

The process of getting a composite tooth-colored filling is almost exactly the same as the silver amalgam process, except that the tooth-colored filling takes a bit longer. That extra time involves the need to keep the teeth clean and dry during the process, due to the ability of the composite resin material to form a bond with the tooth rather than simply fill up a gap. That bond, in addition to filling the gap cleanly, helps in boosting the structural integrity of the repaired tooth.

Yet another positive connected to the bonding quality of composite resin is it allow dentists to leave more of the tooth intact; that means less drilling (a big plus for any dental patient) and less healthy tooth lost in the process. Silver amalgam fillings require some additional shaping and cutting of the tooth in order to secure the filling in place.

Aria Dental has done many tooth-colored fillings in Annapolis, and we’ll be happy to help you match the shade of your fillings to your teeth, too.

Are Amalgam Fillings Bad?

The short answer to this one is, “No.” Amalgam fillings have been around as long as they have because they work. Despite many people’s suspicion of mercury content in anything, amalgam fillings are safe, relatively inexpensive and made to last. On the downside, they’re more than just a little bit noticeable. One big yawn or big, open-mouthed laugh and a self-conscious person might feel conspicuous about having shown of their fillings, as if they’d held up a sign that said, “I had a bunch of cavities!” On the other hand, they’re really only noticeable if people are looking close enough to get a good view of your molars which, we hope, isn’t very many people!

Still, while there is nothing wrong with amalgam, in a day and age where a bright, white, healthy-looking smile is both desired by and attainable for more than just the movie stars who had them in times past, backing up those smiles up with fillings that look like they belong in your mouth is a pretty good idea!