Enhance Your Smile with Tooth-colored Fillings
Tooth-colored fillings are a popular option that can treat dental cavities and restore the appearance of teeth previously treated with metal fillings. There are many obvious aesthetic benefits, but tooth-colored fillings have so much more to offer. Restorative dentistry treatments, like tooth-colored fillings, enhance the smile by repairing damage and restoring oral health. To learn more about tooth-colored filling benefits, schedule a consultation with Houston, TX dentist Jon Marc Van Slate.
What Are Tooth-colored Fillings?
Tooth-colored fillings are a cosmetically pleasing option that can treat dental cavities caused by tooth decay. Tooth-colored fillings are made of a custom-colored composite resin that provides a seamless match between the restoration and natural tooth. During tooth-colored filling treatment, the damaged tooth is thoroughly cleaned and decayed areas are removed. The resin is then directly applied to tooth. A special light is used to cure, or harden, the resin and the hardened filling is polished to create a natural-looking finish.
The Benefits of Tooth-colored Fillings
Tooth-colored fillings offer many benefits over treatment with traditional silver amalgam. Of course, tooth-colored fillings provide a more aesthetically pleasing treatment of dental cavities over silver fillings, but that's just the beginning of the many benefits of tooth-colored fillings. Some of the benefits include:
- Requires less tooth structure to be removed: Treatment with tooth-colored fillings requires less tooth structure to be removed than treatment with metal fillings, helping to preserve dental strength and health.
- Nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding tooth: Because treatment with tooth-colored fillings is customized to each patient, a flawless match is created between the dental filling and natural tooth, making tooth-colored fillings unnoticeable.
- Safer than silver amalgam fillings: Silver amalgam fillings expand and contract when exposed temperature fluctuations in foods. Over time, this expansion and contraction can cause cracks and fractures to form within treated teeth. Tooth-colored fillings won't expand or contract with temperature changes, making them safer for your dental health.
- Extremely durable: The composite resin used in tooth-colored fillings is more durable than silver amalgam and creates a stronger bond with the natural tooth than metal fillings can provide.
- Won't discolor the teeth: Over time, silver amalgam fillings can stain the teeth, resulting in a grayish tint. Tooth-colored fillings won't discolor the teeth, making them the preferred treatment.
- Restored dental strength: Tooth-colored fillings are directly bonded to the teeth, helping to rebuild damaged teeth and restore dental strength.
- Can replace old metal fillings: Old metal fillings can be replaced with tooth-colored fillings for improved appearance and dental health.
- Improved appearance: Tooth-colored fillings match the surrounding tooth, providing a huge improvement over traditional metal fillings.
- Improved confidence: Treating new and old tooth decay with tooth-colored fillings can help give patients the confidence of a beautiful, flawless smile.
Are Tooth-colored Fillings Right for You?
If you suffer from dental cavities or are unhappy with old metal fillings, tooth-colored fillings may be right for you. To find out if you're a candidate for tooth-colored fillings, we invite you to schedule a consultation with Dr. Van Slate.