Fillings

Dentists and patients today have several choices when it comes to selecting materials to repair

damaged or decayed teeth. New materials such as ceramics and polymer compounds have not eliminated

the usefulness of more traditional dental materials, such as gold, base metal alloys and dental

amalgam. That’s because the strength and durability of traditional dental materials continue to make

them useful for certain situations, such as fillings in the back teeth where chewing forces are greatest.

Composite fillings are a mixture of glass or quartz filler in a resin medium that produces a tooth-coloured filling. They provide good durability and resistance to fracture in small-to-mid size restorations. Less tooth structure is removed when the dentist prepares the tooth, and this may result in a smaller filling than that of an amalgam. The cost is moderate and depends on the size of the filling and the technique used by the dentist to place it in the prepared tooth. It generally takes longer to place a composite filling than what is required for an amalgam filling.