Dental Fillings

 Dental fillings are materials to fill in your tooth through different means. This is done when your tooth gets cracked, or your tooth is broken or there is some decay or otherwise some other problems causing damages on the surface of your tooth.

This filling is basically done so that the tooth comes back to the normal shape and it does not cause problem in eating or any change in your physical mouth structure. Also, due to the filling it helps the tooth to stop from further decay and bacteria cannot further enter into your tooth.

Types of Dental Fillings:

There are number of types of dental fillings. However, on the selection of a filling, it depends upon the following things:

·         The kind of decay occurring

·         How much can you afford that is your budget

·         If you are allergic to some kind of material so the filling needs to be choosed wisely

·         How long lasting a filling is

Different types of materials used for fillings include the following:

·         Gold

·         Porcelain

·         a composite resin (which are basically tooth-colored fillings)

·         An amalgam (which is an alloy of mercury, silver, copper, tin and sometimes zinc as well)

1)      Gold Filling:

As mentioned earlier, there are different criteria for selecting a filling material. While choosing a Gold filling, there are certain things to be kept in mind- firstly, it is expensive and your budget range should be high and secondly, this filling needs a lot of care so you have to visit the dentist often. But Gold filling has advantages too, like the metal Gold are well tolerated by one’s gums tissues and they are known to last for 20 years, which gives it a huge edge over the other fillings. The prevalence of this type of filling has reduced considerably as various other options are available for dental filling.

2)      Amalgam filling:

Another type of filling is, Amalgam filling which is also popularly known as the Silver filling, these fillings are relatively less expensive than the Gold ones and  are resistant to wear and tear as well. However since Silver is darker than our normal teeth color. It is preferred only when the fillings are to be done in the molar or premolar region of your mouth (also known as the back side of your mouth) and are not considered for the front teeth.

3)      Composite Filling:

Composite filling is basically done when you want your teeth to give a natural look. These fillings come in different shades that match with the color of your natural teeth. You can get these fillings done in the front area of your mouth. However, there are some drawbacks of this filling like getting stained very easily from persistent tea or coffee intake or due to chain smoking. Also, this filling isn’t preferred for large gaps because its gets damaged in a short amount of time and it has relatively shorter life span as compared to the other fillings.

4)      Porcelain Filling:

The Porcelain filling is the type of filling that is created in a Laboratory just like the Gold fillings. The cost is somewhat similar to the gold filling. They are basically glued to the tooth. There are many shades of white available so that you can choose the one that is more matching to your natural tooth color, and it also resists stains (due to smoke, coffee or tea) better than Composite fillings.

Procedure:

Fillings aren’t just placed in one go by your dentist; it’s a whole procedure which you have to go through.

When you visit the dentist at Dover Delaware, he decides which filling will be best for you after listening to your preferences. Then your teeth are cleaned in the same or the next visit before filling is placed. In case of high tooth sensitivity, you will be given mild anesthesia to make your tooth numb and reduce pan or any discomfort while drilling of tooth. If there isdecay in any of your teeth the dentist first removes it and cleans the area and after that the filling is placed into your mouth.Once the filling has been kept the dentist wait for the filling to hardenso that it becomes long lasting. After the filling sets the procedure of polishing is carried out.

However it just doesn’t end there, you need to keep visiting your doctor depending upon the kind of filling has been placed into your mouth. Also, you might have to avoid certain foods because of your filling. The procedure set up and medicines are different in case of different fillings. At the end it all depends on you as to how long the filling will serve you.