Your helpful guide to composite white filling for the tooth

If the statistics are to be believed on the average an adult Briton has about seven fillings in the teeth. As such dental fillings happen to be one the most frequently performed treatments in restorative dentistry across the United Kingdom. Restorative dentistry treatments are not very easy to afford. How does this particular treatment be so very popular? The treatment has its own peculiarity which makes it strikingly different from the other treatments. The treatment is not only reasonably priced and affordable but it also proves to be highly versatile as well as effective in restoring a tooth after treating a cavity. 

When tooth restoration is concerned, modern dentistry offers a range of filling options to restore the treated teeth. White filling which is also known as tooth coloured filling (or composite filling) is often the most preferred option for the majority of dentists to restore a decayed tooth. The reasons behind the choice are obvious – white filling looms absolutely natural and it also seamlessly blends with both the colour and the lustre of your natural teeth. As a matter of fact composite resin is natural looking that even the majority of patients fail to say where their filling starts and where it ends.

Dental fillings – what are these about?

Dental fillings are a kind of treatment which comes under the category of restorative dentistry. It is least invasive in nature and there exist no single base material for this procedure. The common base material you find in dental fillings is a pliable substance. A dentist who charges reasonable cost for composite filling in London explains this pliable substance fills up the portion of a tooth which has lost its natural structure. The most obvious cause for which the teeth lose a portion of their natural structure is setting in of decay.   

What are the uses of dental fillings?

Restoring the structure as well as the strength of a tooth following a cavity treatment is one of the most obvious uses of white fillings. In order to treat a cavity it is necessary to get rid of the decayed tooth structure. Although this restorative dentistry treatment restores oral health of an individual suffering from tooth decay but it leaves the treated tooth in requirement of reinforcement to maintain normal appearance and functioning in one hand and vulnerable to further decay on the other.

In cases that involve a more invasive tooth restorative treatment a patient is fitted with a pre formed filling. This pre formed filling is either called an inlay or an onlay. Usually a dental crown follows a root canal treatment. Even in cases of an extensive decay of the tooth, dentists recommend a crown to reinforce the damaged tooth. A dental crown comes with a ceramic ccap and completely encases a tooth to protect the underlying structure.

Dental filling – the options you have

Dental fillings come in two basic varieties – metal filling and that of composite resin material. Mostly gold or silver amalgam fillings are used when metal filling is concerned. Silver amalgam filling consists of a combination of the metal silver with mercury. On the other hand white filling includes silica in its composition which gives it an appearance similar to that of the enamel of the tooth.

More about white fillings

Different types of metal amalgam fillings are in use for over centuries. Composite resin was first used in tooth filling as late as in the 1960s says a dentist who quotes affordable cost for white composite filling in London. It did not take time for the biocompatible option to become popular. The resin material in this variety of filling does not require the presence of mercury. Moreover composite resin also provides a near-natural cosmetic impact. Last but nevertheless the least composite resin outdates the average lifespan of any metal amalgam variety by years.  

As time passed by composite white filling gained more and more popularity among both dentists and patients. Gradually the base material of fillings got refined further. As etching was incorporated in the base material of filling, it helped attaining a more reliable and time tested bond with the surface of the tooth.   

White filling and the benefits it offers

White composite filling offers a range of benefits over any other alternative option. As a result it is one of the most popular choices for restoration of the tooth following a cavity treatment. Some of the benefits that if offers include the following –

·         Results are not only aesthetically pleasing but also appear most natural

Composite white filling is aesthetically more pleasing than any other alternative filling option for your teeth. Composite resin also finds its usage in a widely popular dental cosmetic procedure called teeth bonding or dental bonding. A dentist who charges reasonable cost for white filling in London explains it is not only possible but also easy to match the shade of white filling with the colour of the rest of the natural teeth in your mouth. The material is highly pliable before it is hardened which makes it easier to blend this filling option with the structure of the surrounding teeth.

Moreover composite resin material also matches easily with the natural lustre of the teeth. once it is hardened the resin material can be polished to make its reflective quality at par with that of your natural tooth or teeth. White filling is absolutely natural in appearance and it becomes real difficult for patients to identify where their filling starts and ends.

·         Greater safety

White filling material is undoubtedly safer. Mercury is a potential health hazard and the metals used in silver amalgam, filling can easily leach into the mouth and reach into your bloodstream over a course of time. Silver amalgam possesses trace amount of mercury and the later metal is a confirmed neurotoxin. In a striking contrast to conventional filling types white filling option is completely biocompatible and totally free from any hazardous metal or chemical assures a dentist who quotes affordable cost for white tooth filling.

·         Higher stability

Based on variations in temperature white composite filling never expands or contracts which is pretty unlikely with silver amalgam filling. This repeated contraction and expansion is likely to wear and damage the surrounding tooth structure in course of time.

·         Limited chance of sensitivity

Unlike silver amalgam filling, the resin present in white composite filling does not transfer heat as quickly. In easier words this means patients are less likely to experience an unpleasant sensitivity while having anything hot or cold explain qualified dentists working at the Piccadilly Dental in London. White filling material insulates the tooth completely from temperature fluctuations.