For many years, when a patient had a cavity, the standard of care was to repair it with an amalgam filling, often referred to as a “silver filling.” While these fillings are strong and durable, their dark, metallic appearance is a major cosmetic drawback, especially when you laugh or smile. Fortunately, modern dentistry has provided a far more aesthetic, and in many ways, healthier alternative: composite white fillings. Composite fillings are made from a durable, tooth-colored resin material that can be perfectly matched to the shade of your natural teeth, creating a restoration that is strong, safe, and virtually invisible.
What is a Composite Filling?
A composite filling is a restoration made from a mixture of a tooth-colored plastic (resin) and microscopic glass or ceramic particles, which add strength and durability. The material starts as a soft, putty-like substance that your dentist places into the prepared cavity in layers. Each layer is then hardened, or “cured,” using a special high-intensity blue light. After the final layer is placed and cured, the dentist skillfully shapes and polishes the filling to match the natural contours and shine of your tooth, resulting in a beautiful and seamless repair.
The Unparalleled Aesthetic Advantage
The most obvious and popular benefit of choosing a composite filling is its appearance.
- Perfect Color Matching: The composite resin material is available in a wide variety of different shades. This allows your dentist to act like an artist, selecting the shade that perfectly matches the color of your natural tooth enamel.
- An Invisible Repair: Once the filling has been placed and polished, it blends in seamlessly with the rest of your tooth. The restoration is practically invisible to the naked eye. This is a massive advantage, especially for fillings that are in your “smile zone”—the teeth that are visible when you talk or laugh. It allows you to maintain a beautiful, natural-looking smile without the distraction of a dark, metallic filling.
A More Conservative and Healthier Approach
Beyond just looking better, composite fillings offer several important health and structural advantages over old-fashioned silver amalgam fillings.
- Preservation of Healthy Tooth Structure: To place a silver amalgam filling, a dentist often has to remove some extra, healthy tooth structure to create mechanical “undercuts” that will hold the metallic filling in place. A composite filling, on the other hand, is chemically bonded directly to the tooth’s surface. This means that the dentist only needs to remove the decayed portion of the tooth, allowing them to preserve the maximum amount of your healthy, natural tooth structure, which is always the goal of modern, conservative dentistry.
- A Mercury-Free Solution: Silver amalgam fillings are composed of approximately 50% mercury, a heavy metal that is a known neurotoxin. While the American Dental Association (ADA) considers amalgam to be a safe filling material, many patients are understandably concerned about having a mercury-containing substance in their mouths and actively seek a mercury-free alternative. Composite fillings contain no metal and no mercury.
- Reduced Temperature Sensitivity: The metal in an amalgam filling is a good conductor of hot and cold temperatures, which can sometimes lead to tooth sensitivity after the filling is placed. The composite resin material does not conduct temperature in the same way, often resulting in less post-treatment sensitivity for the patient.
Your Redlands Dentist for Dental Fillings
When you have a cavity, you deserve a restoration that is not only strong and durable but also beautiful and natural-looking. For patients in the Redlands, CA area who are looking for a modern, aesthetic solution to tooth decay, Dr. Michelle Wang is proud to offer state-of-the-art, tooth-colored dental fillings. We invite you to experience the difference at Michelle Wang DDS. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.