So you have gone to the dentist's office recently and they told you that you need to get some fillings done on some troublesome teeth. The tiny bacteria on your gums and teeth have been busy converting sugars and starches into lactic acid and your teeth are being eaten away and turned into unsightly cavities.
The good news is that once your dentist drills out all of the decay and prepares your tooth for a filling, chances are you will be given a choice as to what type of filling you would like to have installed.
Generally there are two types of fillings that you and your dentist may look at to fix and strengthen your teeth.
In the past, many people have gone with silver (or partially silver) fillings. These silver fillings contained other metals as well and were somewhat unsightly in the mouth on the surface of the tooth. Now days, for these reasons, people are choosing to have white porcelain fillings installed instead.
It's tough to beat the look of white porcelain fillings. They have the best natural tooth looking appearance because of the translucent qualities that they posses. Light passes through them just like the natural surface of a tooth. It's very difficult to tell where the natural surface of the tooth ends and where the porcelain filling begins.
Many people in recent years have become concerned about metal fillings because they contain the poisonous metal mercury. Dental patients have been known to go to the dentist specifically to have the metal fillings taken out and replaced with porcelain fillings.
Installing porcelain filling by your dentist may take a couple of visits because once the tooth if prepared for the porcelain filling and the decay is removed a mold is taken of the prepared area. That mold is then sent to a dental technician who actually prepares the porcelain fillings in a lab, making sure the patient receives a custom fit.
Once your dentist receives the porcelain filling from the technician, they simply would install it with a special bonding agent. As the porcelain filling has been custom fit for each tooth, it fits on like a piece to a puzzle. Once the Porcelain filling is on the tooth and is secured it actually strengthens the tooth and should last for years to come with proper care.
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