What is a Dental Filling?
A dental filling serves as a direct restoration technique employed to mend a tooth that has been affected by decay or damage. It is typically the initial approach taken to restore a compromised tooth. To commence this procedure, your dentist will administer a local anesthetic to numb the targeted area. They will then proceed by eliminating any decayed or structurally unsound sections of the natural tooth.
Following the preparation of the tooth, the process of applying the "filling" will commence. Dental fillings are typically made using two common materials: dental amalgam, which is an older mixture of silver, mercury, copper, tin, and other trace metals, and composite resin, a synthetic material that closely matches the color of natural teeth. At our office, we utilize composite resin fillings that are custom-matched to the shade of your natural teeth. This preference stems from the ability of composite resin to provide a natural-looking result, as well as its modern composition, which allows it to last as long as traditional dental amalgam fillings.
