Why you may need dental fillings?
Dental fillings may be required for a variety of reasons including dental decay, trauma or fractures. Fillings are placed directly into the tooth during a single appointment. Restoring the tooth with a filling is ideal when the tooth defect is small and is protected by surrounding healthy tooth structure. The decay and any weakened tooth surface will be removed and then the cavity will be restored with one of the following materials:
Types of dental filling:
Composite fillings
Modern, high quality ‘white fillings’ bond directly to the tooth resulting in a reduced amount of tooth preparation. The shade can be matched closely to the colour of your tooth, providing a more aesthetically pleasing result. With great developments in this field, ‘white fillings’ are often as durable as amalgam fillings. They are also free of mercury.
Amalgam fillings
This material consists of mercury, silver, tin and other metals. These are often referred to as ‘silver fillings’. Although not aesthetically pleasing, they have a long proven track record of being strong enough for large dental fillings
Glass ionomer fillings
These are often used as a temporary filling material. They are used in baby teeth as they release fluoride.
Why have a dental crown?
A crown is a custom made restoration that surrounds the complete surface of your tooth, it is sometimes referred to as a ‘cap’. The restoration can be made out of a metal-alloy, porcelain or the ‘all ceramic’ EMAX® material.
A crown may be recommended if there is insufficient tooth remaining for a direct filling, to replace existing failing crowns or after root canal treatment.
Crowns can also be used to improve the appearance of discoloured teeth or strengthen vulnerable teeth.
Types of dental crown
All ceramic EMAX crowns
These crowns are made of a unique compressed ceramic. Advancing technology has meant that these reinforced ceramics negate the need for a metallic substructure. EMAX® crowns can be made to exactly match the appearance of your natural teeth. Due to their high strength characteristics, they can be used anywhere in the mouth.
Metal-Alloy Crowns
These crowns are made of a combination of metals. They are either gold or silver in colour.
Porcelain Crowns
These crowns are tooth coloured and made entirely of porcelain. Porcelain is relatively brittle hence, these crowns can only be used in limited cases at the front of the mouth.
PFM Crowns
These crowns have a metal-alloy substructure which is layered with a porcelain crown. This gives the strength of the metal crown with the tooth coloured appearance of the porcelain crown. As the ceramic has to mask the metal layer underneath, it often has an opaque appearance.
Why have a dental bridge?
A bridge replaces missing teeth by using the support of neighbouring teeth. Due to the reliance on strong adjacent teeth, a bridge may only be used in certain clinical situations. The replacement tooth on a bridge is made from the same materials used to make crowns. Your suitability will be assessed during your consultation. You will also be given the alternative treatment options as in some cases a dental implant may be a more favourable solution.
Explore dental implants
