Fillings are always visible when you talk or laugh.
If you had dental fillings done years ago, you may still have metal fillings impacting your smile. These days, most patients choose tooth-colored composite resin fillings over metal amalgam used in the past. Here are several reasons why you should consider tooth-colored fillings.
Modern Solutions for Healthy and Aesthetic Smiles
Composite resin material offers several advantages over silver metal amalgam fillings.
#1 Provides Durability
Composite resin bonds directly to your tooth, providing a tight seal that avoids breakdown and promotes durability. Composite fillings can often last for 10 to 15 years with excellent care and routine dental checkups.
#2 Preserves Natural Tooth Structure
Composite resin doesn't require Dr. Prusik to remove as much natural tooth structure for placement. This preserves more of your tooth's integrity, keeping it healthy and strong.
#3 Offers Superior Aesthetics
Dr. Prusik can customize composite resin to blend seamlessly with your tooth, so your filling is virtually unnoticeable. He can also use composite resin for a cosmetic dental procedure called bonding, which can repair minor smile flaws such as tooth discoloration, chipping, gaps, and tooth size discrepancies.
#4 Delivers Excellent Longevity
Metal fillings tend to expand and contract with temperature changes in the mouth, causing them to pull away from the tooth's structure and allow decay and bacteria to re-enter the tooth. The nature of composite resin, along with its direct bonding to the tooth, prevents this from happening and provides excellent longevity with proper care.
Why Dental Fillings Are Important
When a tooth has decay, it's been compromised; however, with early detection, a dental filling is often an adequate repair solution. A filling is a less complex and less invasive dental procedure that preserves as much natural tooth structure as possible. If the tooth is left untreated, the decay can worsen and cause an infection, which may require a more complex root canal treatment.
If you'd like to learn more about tooth-colored fillings in Apex, NC, and how they can benefit you, contact Olive Chapel Family Dentistry at (919) 335-6133 for more information.