Tooth-colored Fillings: Dental Composites

Composite Fillings

Tooth Colored Fillings

Dental composites, also called "white fillings"

Modern dental fillings differ greatly from those in the recent and distant past. 6000 year ago, beeswax was used to fill cavities.

Fast forward to 2000 years ago and gold, which is both malleable and durable was used by the Etruscans to make fillings and even crowns. The first use of silver was in a Chinese medical book dated about 1400 years ago, and the first attempts at making tooth colored crowns were about 250 years ago.

These days you can choose a filing material that blends in so well with your natural teeth that one cannot tell the difference between a filling and a tooth. The new tooth colored fillings are made of a blend of resin and a filler such as silica, quartz or glass. The filling is bonded into the tooth and then shaped to resemble an ideal tooth shape, and to function well during chewing and speaking.

Tooth colored fillings are more attractive and are far more conservative than older methods of applying fillings. Because they bond to the tooth, less healthy tooth material must be removed in order to place a tooth colored filling than a silver filling.

When filling a tooth, local anesthetic is used, the decay is removed, and the tooth is prepared to receive the filing by smoothing the defect. The tooth is then chemically prepared, so a thin layer of bonding liquid can be hardened onto the tooth surface. This bonding agent locks onto the filling material, which is layered into the tooth, and hardened in place. Then the filling is shaped and polished to act and feel like a natural tooth. These fillings are strong, fracture and chewing resistant, and natural looking.

If you need any information about tooth colored fillings, please call us at 732-219-8900 to make a courtesy consultation dental appointment in Red Bank/Middletown New Jersey.

Testimonials

"THANK YOU! DR KORWIN YOU HAVE DONE A GREAT JOB WITH MY TEETH. It is true about the gentle touch. YOU made me feel comfortable in every work that you did with my teeth, and I know it was hard work working with so many cavities, hehe!, but at the end it was great, and it felt good when I finished. I thank everybody for being so nice with me. - Wilkarys O. Highlands, NJ

"I have always had problems with my teeth chipping, cracking and breaking. I was embarrassed to smile. After just three visits, Dr. Korwin and his staff have given me the ability to speak and smile again with confidence and we're not even done yet!" - Kathleen N.,  Middletown, NJ

"I didn't feel anything. Most pleasant fillings I've had."  - Jeremiah C. USCG Highlands, NJ

"Explanation of treatment: shots....I didn't feel one of them. Great staff. Very professional"  “ Eric M. USCG, Highlands, NJ