Tooth Colored Fillings
Advantages of Tooth-Colored Restorations
There are many advantages when resin—or tooth-colored—onlays are used to restore teeth.
Resin onlays are bonded to the teeth. This creates a tight, superior fit, and restores the tooth to nearly its original strength. Resin onlays can be used in cases where much of the tooth structure has been lost, so a crown might have been necessary. This keeps your tooth intact and stronger.
Resin onlays wear like natural teeth. And since resin onlay margins are invisible, they don’t have to be placed below the gum line. This is healthier for your gums.
Resin onlays often also contain fluoride. This fluoride may help prevent new decay at the edges of the fillings.
The improved appearance of your smile is immediately evident. Whether you replace one or all of your fillings, it’s simply amazing how beautiful and natural resin onlays look!
The Disadvantages of Metal Fillings
Here is the human mouth in its ideal form. No cavities, no fillings, and no sign of dental disease.
Unfortunately, teeth often don’t look quite this good. At right, you can see how dark, unsightly silver fillings detract from the appearance of the teeth.
Fortunately, dentists now have a new filling material called resin. This material can replace dark silver fillings and make your teeth look beautiful and natural again.
In the past, when an old filling wore out or you had a cavity, your only option was to get another silver filling. But silver fillings have several drawbacks. For example, the edges of silver fillings can wear down and become weak. When fillings break, they no longer seal the tooth. This lets cavities get started again. A cavity can grow under a filling! And silver fillings act like a wedge inside the tooth, frequently splitting it as the metal contracts and expands with age.
Silver fillings can corrode and leak, causing unsightly stains on the teeth and gums. And finally, silver fillings contain 50 percent mercury; this causes concern in some people because of mercury’s toxicity.
Thankfully, you’ll experience none of these drawbacks with resin fillings.
