The Advantages of Tooth-Coloured Fillings

If you could choose between a ball cap and a stovepipe hat, would you really choose the stovepipe hat? If you could choose between a phone attached to your wall with a dial you had to spin with your finger or a smartphone that can take pictures on the beach and surf the internet all at once, would you really choose a rotary dial phone? Times have changed and you’ve got more — and better — choices now on all fronts. Including at the dentist’s office.

Do you have a cavity that needs to be filled? If so, you don’t need to settle for the same silver amalgam fillings that your parents and grandparents (and great-grandparents and more!) used. You can use those silver filling if you want, but you can also choose tooth-coloured fillings in Longmont. What are the advantages of tooth-coloured fillings from a dentist near you?

Tooth-coloured fillings contain no mercury

Traditional silver amalgam fillings contain small amounts of the toxic element, mercury. While the amount of mercury in fillings is so low that it doesn’t present a health risk, many people express concern about even that minuscule risk. Tooth-coloured fillings near you contain no mercury, making them the best option for improved peace of mind.

Getting tooth-coloured fillings is quick

Before beginning the process of filling your cavity with tooth-coloured resin material, your dentist in Longmont will numb the gums around the tooth to be treated and the tooth itself. The numbing takes about 10 to 15 minutes to take effect. The filling process — including removing infected material, cleaning the tooth, placing the resin, curing the filling and polishing your tooth — may only take another 15 minutes per tooth.

Tooth-coloured fillings save more of your natural tooth structure

Because the composite resins that form a tooth-coloured filling bond to natural tooth tissue, dentists don’t have to remove as much of your natural tooth material and structure as required to provide an amalgam or gold filling. The ability to treat a cavity more conservatively with tooth-coloured fillings means your filled tooth will be stronger and have more of your own tissue intact.

Tooth-coloured fillings blend imperceptibly with your health teeth

This may be one of the most significant advantages of tooth-coloured fillings __ compared to traditional filling options. Whereas silver and amalgam fillings are glaringly obvious in your mouth — especially if placed in easily visible teeth — tooth-coloured fillings are subtle and essentially invisible to casual observers. No one other than you and your dentist need to know you have any fillings at all.

Tooth-coloured fillings will last a decade or more

Just how long a filling (of any type) will last depends a lot on you, and on how well you care for your teeth. You can ensure your tooth-coloured fillings will last at least a decade by: brushing twice a day; flossing daily; attending a dental check-up every six months; having your teeth cleaned annually; receiving all recommended dental treatment; and avoiding bad habits like chewing hard objects and treating your teeth like tools. Dental hygiene is particularly important to maintaining tooth-coloured fillings because they’re made from composite materials that are more vulnerable to staining that traditional silver amalgam fillings.

Tooth-coloured fillings do have a couple of disadvantages. Foremost among them is that composite fillings aren’t as strong as a silver amalgam filling. Depending on the location and size of your cavity — and how much biting pressure your tooth might need to sustain — silver fillings may be your best option.