PORCELAIN FILLINGS
So the dentist just spent the last hour and a half grinding away all the tooth decay that has been produced by those meddlesome bacteria. As you probably know, the more sugars and starches that are left on your teeth, the more fuel they have to produce and that means more cavities for you! But now that the tooth decay has been removed, do you have a choice in the type of filling that you can receive.
Chances are good that your dentist will give you the choice between having a silver filling or a porcelain filling. Silver fillings have been used in literally billions of procedures on millions of patients. The big problem with silver fillings is that they, well…look like silver. They can be rather unsightly. Now days, for these reasons and more, people are choosing to have white customized porcelain fillings installed instead. They look great and can be used on teeth that are more visible, like the fronts.
Porcelain fillings look just like a natural tooth. Porcelain fillings have the same translucent (light passes through) qualities that a natural tooth has. Most people think that the white color of the tooth comes from the enamel but it actually stems from the tooth dentin, where light is reflected back. If your dentist installs a porcelain filling correctly, it can be tough to tell where the porcelain filling is on the tooth.
Lots of people are talking more to their dentist about porcelain fillings because of recent concerns that have erupted through contemporary media indicating that silver fillings are dangerous because of the mercury that they contain. Although many silver fillings do contain high levels of mercury (up to 50% of the metal that is used) the American Dental Association views them as completely safe and extensively tested. Regardless, people that have a hard time putting their fear to rest or who just want to be on the sure side of things, will want their dentist to install porcelain fillings.
Even though porcelain fillings look, feel and function like the tooth that they are bonded to, having them installed by the dentist may take a couple of visits. The reason for this is that each porcelain filling is custom molded to fit the exact position on the teeth. Porcelain fillings are not pliable and moldable like silver fillings so they can’t generally be fit on the spot. Usually a dental technician will need to create it outside the dentist’s office from a mold that is taken at the time the cavity is removed.
