Are my fillings going to be white? I want to replace those black/silver-mercury fillings.

Tooth Colored Fillings

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Cosmetic dentists, Dr. Thomas Lange and Dr. Kevin Fitpatrick, have found that teeth restored with composite resin fillings have less incidence of fracture then those restored with silver-mercury fillings. Tooth colored filling materials have been used in our office exclusively for the last fifteen years. These composite resin materials are safe, strong, and extremely natural in appearance.

With tooth colored fillings they have the capability to bond to the surface of the tooth making the tooth stronger than ones restored with silver-mercury fillings. After these teeth have been filled with composite material they tend to have less leakage and if recurrent decay was going to occur it can be caught sooner around the margins due to the color difference.

Composite fillings (tooth colored fillings) can last as long as a silver-mercury filling if it is done properly. Proper techniqe and attention is needed to place a composite filling, therefore it takes a little longer to place than a silver-mercury filling. However, the benefit is seen by the fact they may prevent the tooth from fracturing. If the tooth fractures it increases the cost and time needed to repair the fracture.

Other Tooth Colored Filling Options: Inlays/Onlays

Inlays/Onlays are lab processed resins or ceramics that are not only stronger for the teeth, but they are more life-like then any other restoration in dentistry today. Our La Jolla Dentists can place these restorations by bonding them to the remaining tooth structure after an old filling or a cavity is removed. This allows Dr. Lange and Dr. Fitzpatrick to be more conservative while strengthening the tooth at the same time.

Before the age of cosmetic dentistry when a portion of the tooth was lost the only solution was to eliminate the majority of the healthy tooth structure remaining and place a crown. Now onlays/inlays restorations are being placed in teeth where crowns would have been placed in the past. This allows your San Diego cosmetic dentists to save all the remaining healthy tooth structure that would have previously been lost with placement of a crown.

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