Understanding Your Choices When It Comes To Restoring Your Teeth
Thanks to advances in modern dental materials and techniques, as dentists we have more ways to create pleasing, natural-looking smiles than ever before. With so many choices, how do you know what's right for you?
There are many types of restorative materials available, each with their own advantages and disadvantages and patients should discuss their options with the dentist in order to determine what's best for them, when choosing materials to repair decayed, damaged, deformed or worn teeth.
Tooth coloured (composite) fillings along with silver-amalgam fillings are the most widely used today. Composite fillings, formed from polymers that are combined with quartz, silica, barium or acrylics can be closely matched to the color of existing teeth enabling the finished restoration to virtually disappear. Composite fillings are more aesthetically suited for use in front teeth or the more visible areas of the teeth. These materials may be used to restore decayed, cracked or broken teeth, as well as chipped or worn teeth. Composite restorations are very durable, and can last for many years, giving you along-lasting beautiful smile.
Composite fillings can usually be placed in just one appointment. The dentist will thoroughly clean and prepare the tooth and if decay was found near the nerve of the tooth, a special medication will be applied for added protection. The composite filling material will then be precisely placed, shaped and polished, restoring the tooth to its original shape and function.
Composite fillings also lend strength to the affected tooth, because when a composite filling is placed, the bonding agent is placed into the cavity area first to adhere the composite resin to the tooth, essentially splinting the tooth together. Since the composite filling bonds to the tooth, it can restore most of the original strength of the tooth. What's more, composite fillings require less removal of the original tooth structure. The size of the hole (especially in cases of new cavities) can be dramatically smaller when composite materials are utilized.
Composite fillings are also repairable. If a composite filling should chip, the same resin composition originally used can be luted to the original restoration creating a unified filling. Last but not least, teeth restored with composite fillings are said to be less sensitive to hot and cold foods or beverages.
These new materials have not eliminated the usefulness of more traditional materials such as dental amalgam which has been used by dentists for more than 100 years. Dental amalgam is durable, highly resistant to wear, and because amalgam fillings can withstand very high chewing loads, they are particularly useful for restoring molars in the back of the mouth where the chewing load is greatest. They are also useful in areas where a cavity preparation may be difficult to keep dry during the filling replacement process, such as in deep fillings below the gum line.
June 24, 2010Dental News0
