Dental Fillings Suitable For Restoring Decayed And Damaged Teeth

Dental Fillings Suitable For Restoring Decayed And Damaged Teeth

November 1, 2021

Dental fillings are standard for restoring decayed teeth due to tooth decay and cavities. Fillers also help patch cracked and broken teeth, besides teeth wasted from misuse like nail-biting and teeth grinding. If you need to repair or restore your teeth to prevent further damage from the issues described, you must contact your dentist to place fillers on or in your tooth.

What Materials Help Make Dental Fillings?

Various materials such as gold, porcelain, silver amalgam containing mercury, zinc, copper, tin, tooth-coloured glass, and plastic materials called composite resin help make dental fillings. The location of the cavity or damage, the prices of the filling materials, your insurance coverage, and your dentist’s recommendation helped determine the fillers that will best suit your needs.

What Are The Benefits And Downsides of All Filling Materials?

All fillers are different and vary from each other.

  • Gold fillings last four around 10 to 15 years but are the most expensive and require at least a couple of visits to your dentist.
  • Silver amalgam is also durable lasting for 10 to 15 years but requires more tooth structure removal and may create a greyish hue to the surrounding tooth structure, and presents higher risks of tooth cracks and fractures.
  • Tooth-coloured composite filling closely matched the colour of the existing teeth and adheres to the existing tooth to provide additional support. However, a composite tooth filling isn’t as durable as a gold or silver amalgam lasting approximately five years. There are also more expensive than silver amalgam fillings and require more time when placing them.
  • Porcelain fillings last for more than 15 years and resist staining, but their prices are similar to gold fillings.
  • Glass ionomer fillers help saturate areas below the gum line, releasing fluoride to help defend against additional tooth decay. However, these filters are weaker than composite resin and likely to fracture, lasting for merely five years.

If you need fillings for cavities or tooth damage, you must seek advice from the dentist in Lapeer, MI, before determining which variety you want to have on your teeth.

Why Seek Advice From Dentists Before Getting Dental Fillers?

As a layperson, you may have limited information about various dental fillers. Dentists are professionals with comprehensive knowledge of which fillers to use and for what purpose. If you have cavities on your molars, the dentist will likely recommend silver amalgam fillings for their durability and affordable feature. However, you can prefer gold fillings if you are willing to pay higher prices and visit the dentist twice to have your tooth restored.

If you have a cavity in the aesthetic zone of your mouth, the dentist recommends composite tooth filling, ensuring they don’t impact the appearance of your smile. However, determining the filling materials yourself can lead to errors, leading to inappropriate fillers for specific cavities in your teeth. It is why you must seek advice from the dentist to help you make an informed decision.

Steps Involved When Getting Dental Fillings

You can expect the dentist to numb your affected tooth with local anesthesia before you get dental fillings. Next, the dentist will use a dental drill or other instruments to remove the decay in the hole. After removing the decay, the dentist probes the area to determine whether all decay is removed. After that, the professional prepares the hollow space for the filling by disinfecting the cavity of bacteria and debris. Finally, the dentist places the selected filling and completes the procedure by polishing your tooth.

If you require fillings to repair cracked or damaged teeth, you do not need to remove decay. Instead, the dentist applies the tooth-coloured composite resin material directly over your tooth into the damaged areas in layers and hardens the material with ultraviolet light. Broken teeth are also polished after completing the filling procedure.

Caring For Your Teeth After Getting Dental Fillings

After getting dental fillings for cavities or any other reason, you must maintain the restorations by following appropriate oral hygiene practices. It would help to brush your teeth with toothpaste containing fluoride, floss at least once a day, and visit dentists twice a year for cleanings and exams.

You can contact your dentist if you experience extreme sensitivity around your tooth or feel sharp edges. The dentist restores the tooth as required to ensure they alleviate the discomfort from your mouth.

If you have damaged or decayed teeth, you must look forward to getting them restored using dental fillings from your dentist as soon as possible to prevent further damages.

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