White Cosmetic Fillings – Tooth Colored Fillings

A large number of people had amalgam fillings (silver) or gold filling restorations in the past. Some amalgam fillings contained mercury. Metal fillings were effective, but very conspicuous and tended to blacken in color over time.

Tooth-colored fillings, white fillings, or composite resin dental fillings were created as an alternative to traditional metal dental fillings.

Composite tooth colored fillings are made of a resin filled with microscopic porcelain particles. The strength of current composites is similar to the strength of silver mercury fillings.

The advantage of a composite filling is that it is bonded to the tooth and, with a carefully blended white coloring, is extremely natural in appearance. Research has shown that a well-sealed composite filling can restore the strength of a decayed tooth almost to the level of an unfilled tooth.

A well-sealed composite filling can last longer than silver mercury fillings. A composite restoration can take twice as long to place as a silver mercury filling, so they are usually more costly in the short run. Due to their ability to bond to the surface of the tooth, the restored tooth is much stronger than a tooth restored with silver-mercury fillings.

Teeth restored with composite resin fillings tend to have less leakage, less recurrent decay, and less incidence of fracture – which saves time and money in the long run.

Before                           After
Porcelain Filling            Porcelain Filling