What are the different filling materials used?
Dental restorations may be fabricated out of a variety of materials including direct or lab processed composite fillings, and porcelain or gold restorations.
A Composite filling is a white (tooth colored) resin material that bonds to tooth structure, that is used now in place of amalgam 'silver' fillings to provide a strong and cosmetically pleasing tooth restoration. Because a silver filling requires a "mechanical lock" to stay in place, dentist's usually have to drill a shape larger than the decay itself.
Because of the adhesive chemistry of white fillings and the fact that they bond to teeth, no additional shape has to be drilled once access to the decay has been made. The end result is usually a much smaller filling and a stronger tooth because the bonding helps "glue" or reinforce the weak parts of the tooth.
We do not use Mercury based dental materials.
