|
Composite Resin Fillings
Composite resin restorations also known by many as white fillings
are a fast and effective substitute for dental amalgam restorations.
When placed under optimum conditions they can have an excellent
lifespan and be a great restorative material. The composite resin is
chemically bonded to the teeth which effectively seals the cavity and
prevents the bacteria present in your mouth percolating around the
restoration. This alone is a technical advantage over amalgam
fillings which are known to suffer from microleakage leak for the first
few weeks after placement.
 |
|
 |
|
2 Amalgam
fillings replaced with composite resin restorations under the
protective cover of rubber dam |
White filling material is activated by a bright light which makes it
harden. As it hardens it shrinks by around 2-4%. This
shrinkage means that white filling material is really
best suited to small and medium sized restorations.
For
example if we assume shrinkage of 3%
A 2mm filling shrinks ends up 1.94 mm in diameter – shrinkage of
0.06mm
A 6mm filling shrinks ends up 5.82 mm in diameter - shrinkage of
0.8mm
This shrinkage issue is why early white fillings developed a bad
reputation as not lasting very long and being prone to a lot of
sensitivity after treatment. Thankfully today we have protocols and
techniques to minimise the effect of the shrinkage. By layering
fillings and using ,multiple small increments we can control the
shrinkage and prevent problems. It is really only for very large
restorations that this problem still remains. For these restorations we
recommend you consider a porcelain inlay.
Finally it should be mentioned that there is some level of concern
growing about the oestrogen mimicking properties of the resins used in
white fillings at presnet there is not a huge amount of information
available on this topic.
Porcelain Inlays
To
make a porcelain inlay we first remove
your old amalgam filling using the protocols described elsewhere
on the web site. An impression of the tooth is then taken and sent to
out dental laboratory where a custom made porcelain inlay is created.
In between visits we make you wear a temporary inlay .
On
returning to have your inlay fitted we remove the temporary inlay and
cement the final porcelain inlay in to place. The porcelain is hard
wearing and as there is only a very thin layer of adhesive cement as the
cement layer is so thin there are no issues with shrinkage of the
material as it sets.
There are other advantages to porcelain inlays. Teeth that have had
large amalgam fillings present for a number of years often have
extensive cracks present too, we can often design your inlay to protect
the tooth and stabilise many of these cracks to prevent them from
progressing further.
|
