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"Most people don't know that those 'silver' fillings in your mouth are actually as much as 50 percent mercury." - Ron VanWechel, DDS
Tooth
Colored Fillings
If you still have those old fashioned, dark metallic fillings, it may be time for a change. Natural looking, tooth colored fillings (sometimes called composites, resins, onlays, inlays or porcelains) have been available for years. They can be used in both the front and back teeth so your dental work doesn't show. With this process, your mercury fillings are replaced with a porcelain material that is chemically bonded to your teeth for a longer lasting filling, and one that is far more attractive.
The mercury fillings many people received in their adolescence or early teens generally last seven to ten years, at which time they should be replaced. When an old filling is replaced, it's often replaced with still another, even larger mercury filling. And so on and so on. Every time one of your teeth is restored in this manner, the nerve of the tooth is traumatized. The cycle often continues until there is very little tooth left.
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| BEFORE | AFTER |
Without question, tooth colored fillings are more cosmetically appealing. The bonus lies in the fact that they're as strong and as durable as metallic fillings. Here are some of the benefits of non-metal fillings:
They make the tooth stronger because they're actually bonded into the matrix of the tooth structure and hold the tooth together.
They don't expand and contract as radically as metal fillings. Silver fillings have a high mercury content, and mercury expands and contracts with changes in temperature. When you drink hot coffee or eat cold ice cream, your silver fillings expand and contract, sometimes actually causing teeth to crack.
They are a more conservative treatment. Much less of the tooth needs to be removed for a non-metal restoration as for a silver filling.
They look better , primarily because you don't see them at all. They look so natural they're virtually invisible.
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| BEFORE | AFTER |
Is there a downside? Tooth colored materials cost more than silver fillings because they take longer to put in place. And because the materials are difficult to work with, the actual placement must be accomplished by a cosmetic dentist. Most people feel the clinical benefits of tooth colored fillings outweigh the marginal increase in cost.
Are tooth colored fillings for you? Take a look in the mirror and decide. When you talk, laugh, sing or just open your mouth, do you see ugly, black fillings you'd like to eliminate? Non-metal, tooth colored fillings will give you a natural look you'll love.