Restore Your Smile with Tooth-colored Fillings
Traditionally, metal fillings have been the treatment of choice when it comes to repairing tooth decay. However, this treatment had some downsides, especially when it comes to aesthetics. Restorative dentistry treatments offered by Drs. Charles and Patrick Casey can repair even the most severe dental damage and restore the beauty of your smile. For those suffering from dental cavities, tooth-colored fillings are a superior alternative to traditional metal fillings. To learn more about tooth-colored filling benefits, schedule a consultation at our Montreal, QC practice.
What Are Tooth-colored Fillings?
Tooth-colored fillings, or white fillings, offer an aesthetically pleasing treatment option for restoring teeth damaged by tooth decay. Tooth-colored fillings are made of composite resin, a material that can be custom shaded to match the surrounding teeth, providing a flawless finish.
Treatment with tooth-colored fillings is performed by cleaning the teeth and removing areas of decay. The composite resin is then colored to match the teeth, or tooth, being treated. Once the desired color is achieved, the resin is directly placed into areas of damage, where it is molded and shaped to match the appearance of the surrounding teeth.
The Benefits of Tooth-colored Fillings
Tooth-colored fillings have many benefits beyond the obvious aesthetic reasons. Tooth-colored fillings are actually safer for the teeth than traditional silver amalgam fillings. Silver fillings expand and contract with food temperature fluctuations, which can eventually lead to cracks in the teeth.
Additionally, silver fillings can discolor treated teeth, making them appear gray over time. Silver amalgam fillings also require large portions of the tooth to be removed in order to house the filling, causing the tooth to become weaker. The composite resin used for tooth-colored fillings avoids many of the downfalls of traditional silver fillings, offering such benefits as:
- Won't expand and contract like metal fillings: The composite resin used in tooth-colored fillings doesn't expand and contract to the extent that silver fillings are known to. Rather, tooth-colored fillings closely mimic the degree of expansion and contraction found in the natural teeth, making them less likely to lead to fractures and cracks.
- Won't discolor the teeth: Tooth-colored fillings won't stain the teeth like silver amalgam fillings have been known to.
- Requires less of the tooth to be removed: Because the composite resin used in tooth-colored fillings bonds directly to the teeth, less healthy areas of damaged teeth need to be removed. This helps preserve as much of the tooth as possible.
- Restores dental strength: Tooth-colored fillings help restore dental strength by bonding directly to the teeth.
- Durable and long lasting: Tooth-colored fillings are durable and long lasting, making them a wonderful treatment for restoring teeth damaged by decay.
- Restores dental appearance: Each tooth-colored filling is customized to blend seamlessly with the surrounding teeth, making dental cavities virtually unnoticeable. Old metal fillings may even be replaced with tooth-colored fillings.
Are You a Candidate for Tooth-colored Fillings?
Many people with untreated dental cavities or old metal fillings make excellent candidates for tooth-colored fillings. To find out if this treatment is right for you, we invite you to schedule a consultation with our team at Smiles Montreal Dentistry.