Fillings are needed in teeth for a variety of reasons like cavities, broken or worn teeth, or poor esthetics to name a few. A filling is placed after the removal of damaged or diseased tooth structure. At our clinic we typically use a composite resin (white filling) as our filling material because it blends more naturally with your tooth giving a more esthetic result compared to silver fillings (amalgam). Composite fillings use a bond to help hold the filling in the tooth. 

For fillings, we often use a local anaesthetic in the area to be restored and remove all the decay from the affected tooth. Then we etch the surface of the tooth to prepare it to bond to the filling material. Once we have placed the white filling and ensure it has bonded, we finish this process by polishing the surface of the filling. Finally, we check to ensure that the new filling is adjusted properly in the patient’s bite.

Some people have old silver fillings they have concerns about. We work with our patients to replace these silver fillings with composite (or porcelain crowns) if they begin to deteriorate or get cavities underneath them.