Everything You Need to Know About Tooth-Colored Fillings

Composite (tooth-colored) fillings offer a long-lasting, attractive treatment for cavities and other minor tooth issues. They also provide a safer, mercury-free alternative to dental amalgams (silver fillings), which may cause health issues in high-risk groups.

Dr. Danielle AKry specializes in matching tooth-colored fillings to your natural enamel shade. She invites you to call her office in Century City, California, to schedule an appointment for an exam, cleaning, or cavity treatment using composite fillings.

Tooth-Colored Fillings are Made of Composite Resin

Composite Resin consists of high-grade plastics and glass particles. It provides a natural, enamel-like appearance when used to fill cavities, repair cracked or chipped teeth, and even improve the appearance of permanently discolored teeth; formulated to withstand biting and chewing forces, composite resin bonds to your tooth’s structure, preventing further decay from damaging the tooth.

Composite Resin Can Be Matched to the Color of Your Natural Teeth

Using the shade-matching technique, Dr. Akry blends Composite Resin with a specific catalyst to replicate the enamel color of your other teeth. After achieving the desired color, Dr. Akry layers the Resin onto the tooth and polishes the filling once it hardens.

Composite Fillings Require Less Removal of Enamel Compared to Dental Amalgams

Dental amalgams do not chemically bond to teeth like composite Resin, requiring more enamel removal to prepare the cavity. Silver fillings simply “sit” in the cavity, held in place by the cavity’s dimensions. Natural wear-and-tear on teeth changes the cavity’s shape, often leading to silver fillings falling out. In addition, biting down in a certain way on a silver filling can dislodge the filling since it never bonds to the cavity.

Composites Can Last Up to 15 Years

Good oral hygiene and regular dental exams will extend the life of most tooth-colored fillings. Larger composite or molar resin fillings may experience more wear and tear and must be replaced sooner than resin fillings in front teeth. Composite resins fill the cavities in molars due to their wear-resistant and enhanced strength properties.

Composite Fillings are Cured with Halogen Light After Placement

LED lights trigger a chemical reaction in Resin that causes it to harden and bond with the tooth. Dentists shine an LED light on the filling for less than one minute before the curing process establishes the color chosen from a shade guide. The final polishing and finishing steps take less than 15 minutes. One appointment visit is sufficient to finish a composite filling process.

You Can Eat and Drink After Getting a Tooth-Colored Filling

For the first 24 hours, avoid eating hard or crunchy food and excessively hot or cold items. After 24 hours, you should be able to resume a regular diet unless your dentist advises otherwise.

Contact Dr. Danielle Akry, DDS., in Century City, CA, at (310) 286-3111 today to learn more about tooth-colored fillings or to schedule another dental appointment.