Tooth-coloured fillings

Fillings are used to repair relatively minor damage to teeth caused by decay or trauma. In some cases, patients don’t like their old, unattractive silver amalgam fillings in which case we replace them with tooth-coloured fillings. For all regular fillings, composite resins are used. Some people refer to these as “tooth coloured’ or “white” fillings.

Modern composite resins are wonderful materials. They are extremely strong and because they are bonded to the underlying tooth material they can last for many years. Aesthetically, they can be made to replicate the tooth both in form and in colour.

Composite resins fillings are very ‘technique sensitive’. They require meticulous isolation from contamination by moisture when being placed. Because of the extra care needed in their placement, they usually take a little longer to place than the old amalgam fillings used to, but the extra time and effort are well worthwhile.

Despite their wonderful properties of strength and durability, even composite fillings have their limitations and in cases where there has been a lot of loss of natural tooth material, we will recommend a ceramic restoration or a crown. Thanks to our Cerec CAD/CAM equipment we can provide the ceramic restorations in a single visit.