Advantages of white fillings from our dentist at Dee Kay Dental

Persistent toothache plus a dental check-up usually equates to some kind of restorative being fitted.

And if you are over the age of 30, it is likely that if you have had a filling in your early life, it was made from amalgam; a mix of metals that may look black, grey or even green against your teeth. Which is, let’s be honest, far from flattering!

Over the last 20 years or more in restorative dental care, more surgeries have moved away from amalgam fillings and have adopted the use of composite to restore teeth damaged by decay or injury.

At Dee Kay Dental, we are happy to be able to offer all of our patients composite (or white) fillings, that are colour matched in the surgery by our dentist in Sheffield to blend with the surrounding tooth. Easier to fit and long-lasting, these restoratives can also be more cost-effective long term and can keep your teeth protected for longer. Great!

With that in mind, what are some of the other advantages of having white fillings fitted by our dentist in Sheffield? Read on to find out!

Aesthetics

Ok, so we mentioned the aesthetic benefit of having our dentist in Sheffield fit a white filling.

And while composite fillings will be colour matched to the surrounding enamel, it is important that once fitted, you come to see us at least every 6 months for cleaning. In some cases of longer worn composite fillings, they can become slightly stained, and we can remove the discolouration with a slow dental drill. This will keep the outer area of the filling blended in with your tooth, without any brown stains making it visible.

Support

While you may have assumed that metal fillings were hardier, they have been found to be somewhat weak when compared to composite!

When fitting a metal filling, more of the healthy tooth has to be removed, whereas, with composite options, we will only remove as much as is needed, providing the tooth with more support than you would get with amalgam.

Expansion

If you ever studied science, you will know that metal expands with heat and contracts when cold; not a great choice for material when filling a tooth!

When a person with a metal filling drinks hot tea, the filling will likely expand; this can damage the surrounding tooth by creating pressure and causing cracks. With composite, there is no issue of heat causing expansion and coolness causing the filling to shrink, so your fillings will not damage the surrounding tooth and will be less likely to fall out which is a great improvement.

Durable

And should you have ever had a metal or amalgam filling (or even a metal crown), you may have experienced it cracking at some point.

Thanks again to advances in restorative technologies, dental researchers have been able to make composite materials sturdier, meaning that they are less likely to crack under blunt force or by the grinding of hard foods.

Versatile

Yes, white fillings can repair cracked teeth, but they can also be used to repair teeth that have been worn by age or extensive damage. So, it seems that with all things considered, white fillings are the future of tooth restoration!