Have you had a cavity treated in the past, and your dental filling still shines metallically to remind you every time you smile? Though metal fillings have been a standard cavity treatment procedure for over a hundred years, their effectiveness is often matched by their conspicuousness.
With white, composite resin fillings, however, you can effectively treat your cavities while keeping your entire smile the same natural, pearly white color. Aside from appearance, though, there are several other benefits of tooth-colored fillings that could improve the success of your restorative treatment.
These days, pride in your smile is as equally important as its good health. Not only can a confident smile make you more attractive and approachable, it can help relieve tension around you, make you seem more confident overall, and help improve your social and professional interactions.
By blending in with your natural tooth color, tooth-colored fillings can help restore your tooth’s health discretely, without drawing attention, while preserving your pride in your smile.
Aside from looking better, white composite resin performs better as a dental filling than the amalgam mixture of metal fillings. Comprised of silver, liquid mercury, and other trace metals, amalgam fillings are subject to the properties of metal, including contracting and expanding with changes in temperature.
If a metal filling shrinks, bacteria can enter your tooth through the resulting spaces between filling and tooth structure and reignite tooth decay. If it expands, your inflexible tooth can break, placing it a greater risk than it may have been before the dental filling.
By contrast, composite resin is bonded to your tooth’s surfaces, providing a sturdier restoration that helps preserve your tooth by holding it together while effectively sealing its interior from returning bacteria.