Dental Fillings
Dental Fillings Dentist in Tukwila
Say Goodbye to Silver Fillings
Years ago, silver amalgam was the material most often used to restore decayed portions of your teeth, especially back teeth. Unfortunately, silver fillings can really darken a smile, and amalgam, by its very nature, can cause damage to your tooth in the long run.
Amalgam fillings absorb moisture and expand and contract with heat and cold. So, as the filling ages, it can fracture your tooth; we’ll then need to place a crown on your tooth to save it. Silver fillings often undergo metal fatigue, corroding and leaking over time. This destroys the protective seal of the filling and allows new decay to invade the tooth. This leakage can also give a gray appearance to the entire tooth.
New Technology for Natural-Looking Fillings
Dental research has resulted in the development of tooth-colored filling materials that are not only durable and long-lasting, but attractive as well. Composite resins provide an attractive, natural look while at the same time restoring strength and durability to your tooth.
Composite resins can be placed directly into the tooth in a single appointment. They work well to restore a tooth when only a small amount of tooth structure has been lost.
When a tooth has suffered more extensive damage, there may not be enough structure remaining to hold a filling in place without risk of breaking the tooth. In these situations a crown is a much better treatment option.
Start with the Small Stuff to Avoid the Big Stuff
If you are thinking of delaying treatment, you should know that decay will never go away on its own.
It grows slowly while it’s still in the hard enamel, but if decay is allowed to reach the softer inner dentin, it grows much more quickly, allowing bacteria to infect the pulp chamber of the tooth. If this happens you may experience a toothache. A tooth with an infected pulp chamber can only be saved with root canal therapy. That’s one of the reason we recommend treating a tooth as soon as possible.