Conservative Dentistry - Fillings

Fillings are necessary when holes appear in teeth due to tooth decay, damage and dental caries. These need to be treated to avoid any further aesthetic or functional consequences. When choosing the material used for the filling, the dentist must take many aspects into consideration, for example. the location, extent and visibility of the hole etc.

Many different materials are available for use in fillings. Sometimes a dentist will fill in a damaged tooth immediately, while sometimes the dentist will prepare the site of a filling, make a mould for the filling, which is then made in the laboratory. This is then returned to the dental practice and installed during the next treatment session.  These are known as inlay or onlay fillings. The materials used for these can me metals (cast gold is the best quality), composite resin and ceramics etc. Dental composite cements and plastics used by dentists have in recent years undergone great development and are still being developed today, particularly in regards to their strength, ability to keep colour and constriction. Like for all dental procedures, even a simply filling a consultation with the dentist is recommended, for example to decide on the most appropriate material to use for the filling. Of course this at the request of the patient.  This is always more useful than trying to decide using internet research alone.