Amalgam Fillings – City of London Dentist Talks About How Amalgam Fillings Can Save Your Teeth
Without proper care, over time your teeth can develop cavities, holes in the teeth. To stop the cavity from destroying the whole tooth, your dentist will often recommend a filling. Amalgam fillings are a composite of different metals (such as silver and copper) that when placed into a tooth will stop any further food particles or plaque causing internal damage. Fillings are very common with many of them being metal. Metal fillings have very high endurance will last many years before needing to be replaced.
The process of getting a filling is relatively straight forward and your City of London dentist will be able to talk you through the process before they begin. A local anaesthetic will be administered to remove any sensation from the affected area. Using a small drill any damaged part of the tooth will be removed and the inside of the cavity cleaned. If the cavity has affected the sides of the tooth a band can be used to support the filling as it sets, to assure that a natural tooth shape is formed.
There are two main types of filling: amalgam and composite resin. The composite resin can be colour matched to your existing teeth to make it unnoticeable, it is for this reason that resin will often be used on front teeth where a filling would be especially noticeable. But the resin is not as durable as amalgam and will need to be replaced sooner. Teeth that do the majority of chewing and grinding will more often use amalgam due to its excellent endurance, this is especially true of your back teeth where the metal colour will also be less visible.