Sometimes there’s no avoiding having fillings. They are a great way to save teeth that have been affected by decay. However, no one wants to be reminded for the rest of their lives that they had to have a filling. One way to avoid this is to have white fillings. They blend in with the rest of your tooth and so, when you smile or laugh, you don’t have to worry that everyone can see your dental history.

What’s in a filling

Let’s look at amalgam fillings. People like to call them silver fillings, but they are more dark grey or black than silver. They are made of silver tin and mercury, which together make a nice, soft putty-like material that the dentist can pack into the cavity left in your tooth when all the decay has been drilled out.

White fillings, on the other hand, are made of a mixture of plastic and glass. This also comes as a putty that the dentist puts into the cavity in layers, pausing between layers to cure or harden the resin with a UV light.

Bonding

Each layer of composite resin bonds with the tooth, becoming one with it. Amalgam does not bond with the tooth, and, however tightly packed in it is, there’s always the chance that bacteria can get in round the edges and cause more decay.

Sculpting

Amalgam is too soft to shape. The best we can do here at SW9 Dental in Stockwell is pack it in flat. With composite resin though, once the tooth has been filled, we can shape the resin to recreate the mounds and valleys that you need on the surface of your tooth to grind up your food.

So, with white fillings, not only are your teeth the right colour, they are also the right shape. Why would anyone think, if they looked into your mouth, that you had ever had a filling in any of your teeth?

White fillings last really well too. Next time you come in, do ask for more information if you are interested in getting old amalgam replaced with white fillings.