Composite (Metal Free) Fillings

Once decay has broken through the enamel “shell” of the tooth and bacteria is growing in the inner core of the tooth, called dentin, it can’t be reversed and physically needs to be removed by a dentist and then the tooth is restored with a “filling”. Our office restores most cavities with composite fillings.  Composite is a glass filled resin, that is tooth colored and can be bonded to the tooth.  Traditional fillings used to be made of a mixture of metal, including mercury, called amalgam.  Today’s materials are far better in adhering and becoming part of the tooth, so metal fillings are no longer used in our practice.  With composite, the tooth is sealed to prevent further decay, it requires minimal amount of tooth structure to be removed compared to amalgam and patient’s like the esthetic look of composite vs a metal filling.