Tooth-Colored Fillings

Tooth-Colored Fillings Offer Lifelike Cavity Restoration

If we discover a cavity during your cleaning and examination, we recommend removing all decay to preserve your tooth’s healthy structure. In addition to protecting the affected tooth, treating your cavity prevents decay from spreading to other parts of your smile. Because this leaves a permanent hole in the tooth’s surface, we must restore it with a filling to prevent reinfection or pain from an exposed nerve. At Advanced Dental Center, we create tooth-colored fillings from a composite resin that mimics your tooth’s natural enamel. This helps restore your tooth’s appearance and structure at the same time.

What Are The Benefits Of Tooth-Colored Fillings?

When an injury such as tooth decay breaks the surface of tooth enamel, the enamel must be restored to prevent reinfection. In the past, dentists would apply a combination of metals called amalgam to fill the holes left when removing decay. While amalgam offered a versatile ability to take on most size and shaping considerations, concerns about contamination from mercury mean amalgam has fallen out of favor. Composite resin presents a biocompatible alternative that we can shade to your specific tooth’s color. While amalgam requires hours without eating or drinking to set properly, tooth-colored fillings set instantly, allowing you to enjoy normal activities directly after your appointment.

Placing Your Tooth-Colored Filling

We can place your dental filling at the same visit that we discover a cavity. We begin by carefully removing all decaying material from your tooth and cleaning the entire surface. After carefully applying and shaping the composite resin, we apply a special UV light that accelerates hardening. Once complete, we will have you test your bite to see that the filling does not interfere with your alignment.