If you have one or more worn, decayed, or damaged teeth, visit our clinic at Alexandria or Falls Church and get help from our professional dentists, headed by Dr. Ashraf Adam.
Your dentist will fill in holes caused by damage to your tooth with a hard dental filling substance to repair it.
Dental fillings can effectively replace the tooth structure damaged by tooth decay, but they can’t fix all the tooth damage completely.
Your dentist may recommend some advice to avoid the need for fillings, such as cleaning your teeth daily and eating healthy, nutritious foods to prevent teeth decay.
Regular check-ups at our clinic will also help to find any dental problems and treat them early.
Dental fillings:
They are single or combinations of various materials such as metal, glass, or plastic materials. Their function is to repair or restore your teeth after your dentist removes the decayed area from your tooth. They also can fix your cracked, broken, or worn teeth.
Dental filling materials used in filling cavities vary in their strength and color. They include:
Gold.
Advantage: it has a good-looking appearance and lasts from 10 to 15 years at least.
Disadvantage: it is more expensive than other filling materials.
Silver amalgam.
Advantage: it is less expensive than composite filling material. It lasts from 10 to 15 years at least.
Disadvantage:
1. It may require your dentist to remove more of your tooth to make space large enough to hold a filling.
2. Produces grayish shade to the surrounding tooth structure.
3. It is more likely to cause tooth cracks because of a wide degree of expansion.
4. It may cause allergies to some people.
Advantage:
1. They provide a closely matched shade of the existing teeth.
2. They can provide extra support by bonding to the existing tooth.
3. Dentists use it for tooth repair other than a cavity filling.
4. Compared with amalgam fillings, they require less of a tooth to be removed.
Disadvantage:
1. They last less than other materials as they last for five years at least.
2. They may cause chipping off teeth according to location.
3. They may cost up to twice as much as amalgam.
Advantage:
1. They are more staining resistant than composite resin material.
2. They can last more than 15 years.
Disadvantage:
they cost as much as gold fillings.
1. Glass ionomer (acrylic and a specific type of glass material):
Advantage:
it can release fluoride that protects your teeth from more decay.
Disadvantage:
1. It is weaker than the resin filling, although it costs the same.
2. It lasts less than five years.
Your dentist will determine the best choice of filling material according to your situation.
