Glendowie Dental Centre

Types of Fillings

Glendowie Dental Centre offers different types of filling materials to suit your need.

A dental restoration or dental filling is a treatment provided by the dentist to restore the integrity, function and morphology of missing tooth structure. Glendowie Dental Centre uses the dental restorations or dental fillings to restore the tooth resulting from caries, chipped teeth, broken teeth or external trauma. A dental restoration or a dental filling is placed by dentist into your teeth by using one of many specialised dental materials.

What is Composite Filling?

result 1 of composite filling - Glendowie Dental Centre
result 2 of composite filling - Glendowie Dental Centre

A white filling or a dental composite filling is tooth coloured filler material.  They can be used in direct restorations to fill in the cavities created by dental caries and trauma, minor build up for restoring tooth wear (non-carious tooth surface loss) and filling in small gaps between teeth (labial veneer) as a cosmetic procedure.

result 1 of composite filling - Glendowie Dental Centre
result 2 of composite filling - Glendowie Dental Centre

Advantages

  • The shade or colour of the composite fillings can closely match the colour of your healthy teeth.
  • A composite filling is chemically bonded to tooth structure and give more support.
  • A composite filling can be used to fix chipped, broken, or worn teeth especially on the front teeth.
  • In some cases less of the tooth structure needs to be removed compared with an amalgam filling.
  • There is no mercury component in the composite filling.

Disadvantages

  • A composite filling takes longer to do than a traditional silver filling because there are more steps involved.
  • A composite filling costs slightly higher than a silver filling.
  • Composite fillings can cause some sensitivity after placement.
  • A composite filling does not work well in areas of the mouth where it is difficult to keep the tooth dry during the dental procedure, such as the posterior teeth.

What is Amalgam Fillings?

result 2 of amalgam fillings - Glendowie Dental Centre
result 1 of amalgam fillings - Glendowie Dental Centre

An amalgam filling or silver filling is alloy formed by a reaction between two or more metals.  Amalgam fillings or silver fillings are still the oldest type of filling still in use.  More recently its popularity has decrease due to the development of alternative bonded restorative materials such as composite fillings or white fillings, crowns or a bridge.  An amalgam filling is silver in colour which is not popular in highly visible areas of the mouth.

Amalgam fillings or silver fillings contain mercury that causes a negative perception concerning the potential health risks of the material.  American Dental Association and New Zealand Dental Council are still claiming, from recent research, that an amalgam filling or a silver filling is safe to use.

result 1 of amalgam fillings - Glendowie Dental Centre
result 2 of amalgam fillings - Glendowie Dental Centre

Advantages

  • An amalgam filling is very long lasting.
  • An amalgam filling works well under pressure, so it is good for teeth in the back of the mouth, where chewing pressure is greatest.
  • An amalgam filling is relatively inexpensive compared to other types of fillings.
  • An amalgam filling is more resistant to dental decay.
  • Patients prone to get a lot of cavities should consider amalgam fillings.

Disadvantages

  • Many patients do not like the look of amalgam fillings in their mouths.
  • In some cases healthy parts of the tooth need to be removed to make room for the amalgam filling.
  • It has the potential to cause stress on the tooth and causes crack and fracture
  • An amalgam filling contains mercury
  • An amalgam can cause the tooth to become dark in colour.

What is Glass Ionomer Cement?

Fissure Sealants - Glendowie Dental Centre

A glass ionomer cement is a class of material commonly uses in dentistry as a direct filling material and/or for luting indirect restoration. It can also be placed as a lining material (dental nerve protection in deep filling) in some restorations for extra protection.  This tooth-coloured material was introduced in 1972 for use as a restorative material to repair the erosion or caries at the neck area of teeth close to the gum line and as a fissure sealant.

Fissure Sealants - Glendowie Dental Centre

Advantages

  • A glass ionomer filling is tooth-coloured.
  • A glass ionomer filling bonds chemically to the tooth substance and non-precious metals without the need for additional adhesives.
  • A glass ionomer filling releases fluoride
  • A glass ionomer filling is capable of thermal expansion is equivalent to that of tooth structure
  • Glass ionomer fillings have good biocompatibility with the existing tooth.

Disadvantages

  • A glass ionomer filling has low fracture toughness.
  • A glass ionomer has limiting applications in high load-bearing areas.
  • A glass ionomer filling is vulnerable to acidic erosion.
  • A glass ionomer filling exhibits low flexural strength
  • A glass ionomer has low wear resistance.