Marietta Tooth-Colored Fillings
When fillings were first introduced, they were made of “amalgam”, a metal mixture containing nickel, zinc, silver and mercury. These fillings are still used today though in diminishing numbers, primarily due to the fact that they contain mercury. In addition, because the fillings expand as they age, they can produce cracks in the tooth and cracks in the filling. They turn black with age and also stain the tooth and even the surrounding gums black. For all these reasons, we only provide fillings are metal free.
There are two types of tooth colored fillings in Marietta: direct restorations and indirect restorations. Direct fillings are best when the filling being is moderate to small in size. These fillings are bonded to the teeth and actually increase the strength of the tooth. Indirect restorations are made of ceramic outside your mouth in our lab and are called onlays. They are similar to ceramic crowns except that they do not cover the entire tooth. Indirect onlays are used at our office, when the missing tooth structure is too large to fill with a normal filling, but the situation doesn’t call for a full crown. We pride ourselves on being able to produce lifelike tooth colored fillings that are beautiful and also add strength to the tooth and we’ll provide the best option for you, whether its a direct filling or an indirect restoration (onlay).
In the last 20 years, we have seen tremendous advancements in non-metal filling materials and techniques. Our dental care provide these filling upgrades for our patients.
Dental Fillings
Tooth colored dental fillings offer many benefits over amalgam including:
- They are natural in color and blend well with your natural teeth
- They are “bonded” to your teeth, which in essence pulls your tooth together, making it stronger
- Tooth colored materials are more stable in extremely hot and cold temperatures (like when eating ice cream or drinking coffee) than amalgam, which means that they don’t expand or contract as much.
If you would like to have a FREE, no-obligation consultation to discuss tooth colored restorations, please contact our Marietta Dentists at Gilreath Family Dentistry Marietta to schedule an appointment.