What are Dental Fillings?

Dental fillings help to restore cavities and bring a damaged tooth back to its usual function and shape. These fillings replaces lost tooth structure caused by decay and wear, ensuring teeth are healthy and can continue functioning without becoming a bigger issue. By closing off spaces where bacteria can enter, a filling also helps prevent further decay.

Only your dentist can detect whether you have a cavity that needs to be filled. During a check-up, your dentist will use a small mirror to examine the surfaces of each tooth.

Anything that looks suspicious will then be closely checked. X-rays may be needed/taken. The type of treatment your dentist chooses will depend on the extent of damage caused by decay.

When your dentist gives you a filling, he or she first removes the decayed tooth material, cleans the affected area, and then fills the cleaned out cavity with a filling material.

By diagnosing tooth decay at its earliest stages, we strive to do the smallest filling wherever possible. We use white fillings that are colour matched to the shade of your natural teeth.
White fillings are:

  • Aesthetic and extremely natural-looking fillings that blend in completely with the rest of the tooth
  • A bonding or ‘gluing’ effect to the tooth structure to ensure the filling material with stay in place for a long time
  • Good physical properties that can take the pressures of chewing and eating
  • Insoluble material that is insensitive to dehydration
  • Placed directly into cavities for an efficient and time saving treatment option

If decay or a fracture has damaged a large portion of the tooth, a crown or cap may be recommended. Decay that has reached the nerve may need root canal therapy in which the damaged nerve is removed.