Fillings
One of the most frequently used dental restorations for repairing cavities is called a filling. There are several basic types of filings available today. Your dentist will help you decide which type of filling will best suit your particular needs and desires.
Before beginning treatment the dentist will usually administer some type of local anesthetic to make sure you are comfortable. The area of decay is then removed from the tooth and the resulting hole is filled with the appropriate material.
Silver Fillings
Also called dental amalgam, silver filling is a mixture of silver, tin, copper and mercury. Mercury makes up about 30-50 percent of the compound. Mercury is used to bind the metals together and to provide a strong, hard durable filling. After years of research, mercury has been found to be the only element that will bind these metals together. Amalgam is a very durable material and has been used safely for more than 150 years. It is estimated that well over 1 billion amalgam restorations (fillings) are placed annually.
There have been concerns raised about safety of mercury in dental amalgam. Ongoing scientific studies conducted over the past 100 years, however, continue to prove that amalgam is not harmful. Its release from the filling is extremely small. In fact, the amount released in a dental amalgam is much less than what patients are exposed to in food, air, and water. When mercury is combined with the other materials in dental amalgam, its chemical nature changes, so it is essentially harmless. Claims of diseases caused by mercury in amalgam are anecdotal, as are claims of miraculous cures achieved by removing amalgam. These claims have not been proven scientifically.
Advantages of Silver Fillings
Silver fillings can provide excellent inexpensive coverage for teeth with small to medium size cavities. Although not very esthetic, they provide a long lasting solution of up to 30 years of service.
Disadvantage of Silver Fillings
Silver fillings do not bond (stick) to the tooth structure. This requires the preparation to be "undercut," creating a chamber that is smaller at the surface of the tooth and wider inside. This undercut keeps the filling from falling out of the tooth.
The problem is that the creation of this undercut requires the removal of more healthy tooth structure than is necessary. This weakens the tooth and predisposes the tooth to fracture when biting into hard items.
Alternatives
Composite fillings are an
excellent alternative, limiting the removal of healthy tissue and leaving
excellent cosmetic results. In cases of extensive decay,
inlays/onlays or
porcelain
crowns are a much better
restoration.
Tooth-Colored Composite Fillings
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Composites are durable plastics that come in many different shades and can be matched to the color of your tooth perfectly. This technique results in beautiful and highly esthetic restorations. Because of the bonding nature of the material, this restoration requires minimum tooth structure removal and will allow better protection for the restored tooth in the future. Composite fillings can be used in many different types of cavities regardless of size or location. |
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Failing Silver Fillings replaced by Composite Fillings |