Restorative filling materials
Used to prevent the spread of tooth decay or correct any cosmetic damage, a filling is just one of the ways our dentists preserve your health. There are several different types of fillings: amalgam (otherwise known as silver fillings); composite resin, the color of which can be customized to match your natural teeth; cast gold and 24 carat gold foil, gold is the most stable and most functionally and biologically ideal material for the mouth that exists in dentistry today; porcelain and porcelain bonded to gold..
Amalgam
Silver amalgam fillings are the most well used, researched and historically studied dental filling material in existence. Silver amalgam is economical, has a high compressive strength similar to tooth structure and can be condensed into an area of missing tooth with amazing predictability. Commonly used for filling posterior teeth, amalgam fillings can withstand biting pressure and can be placed in a single visit. Silver amalgam fillings contain a mixture of copper, tin, mercury and zinc. Liquid mercury becomes a solid solution after once the silver amalgam once it is mixed. After the silver amalgam restoration has been placed our patients typically return to polish the surface of the new silver restoration to ensure maximum longevity and delay surface oxidation and corrosion of the filling material. The FDA and the ADA have extensively researched the mercury content in amalgam fillings to ensure that it stays in solid solution and does not leach from the tooth. Silver amalgam fillings are the most widely used dental material in existence today.
Composite Resin
Since the color of a composite resin filling can be customized, it is the most aesthetically pleasing option. However, it is more expensive and not as strong as an amalgam filling. Composite resin is ideal for use in the anterior region of the mouth. Composite can be used for anterior tooth decay, repairing chipped or cracked teeth, closing spaces between teeth, correcting dental discoloration, protecting wear facets along the gumline, or changing the shape of teeth. Composite fillings have a disadvantage in difficult to access posterior regions of the mouth where cavities tend to occur in-between teeth. They are technique sensitive and require an immaculate surface with which to bond and a location where ultraviolet light can ensure complete light-cure of the composite resin. In regions where biting forces are applied, composite resin is too soft to maintain the occlusal biting forces we strive to maintain; although the material is esthetically pleasing to the eye. Over time, the composite resin restoration will wash out at an accelerated rate compared to wear on natural enamel. Unfortunately the microscopic bond of the composite resin to tooth structure will also predictably leak in four to five years. Besides its most appropriate use as an anterior restorative filling material, composite resin can also be used to rebuild the interior of broken down teeth beneath cast gold or porcelain restorations as a core build-up material; as long as the composite resin is completely sealed by a porcelain or gold final restoration.