The Benefits Of Replacing Your Dental Fillings

By Marilyn E. Coleman, DDS

Opitz Family Dental

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The Benefits Of Replacing Your Dental Fillings

Despite what many people assume, dental fillings are not intended to be a permanent fix. Over time, normal activity such as chewing or grinding your teeth can wear away at a filling, and eventually, it will need to be replaced.

When a filling is worn, chipped or cracked, it leaves your tooth vulnerable to bacterial infections. Regular cleaning such as brushing or flossing is not effective in removing bacteria, which means infections are likely to develop in the gaps between a compromised filling and the underlying tooth.

During regular dental exams, your dentist checks existing fillings to detect any problems or weaknesses. He or she evaluates the seal between the filling and the tooth to determine if the filling needs to be replaced.

If your fillings do need to be replaced, it's recommended that you take this opportunity to upgrade your filling material. Many patients have old silver or amalgam fillings, which are made of a mixture of silver, copper, tin and mercury. This material was incredibly common until it was replaced by composite a mixture of acrylic resin and finely ground glass-like particles. This inconspicuous, tooth-colored material has a number of advantages over amalgam.

Most importantly, composite material makes it easier to detect tooth decay. The metals in amalgam fillings can obscure cavities, even on a full set of x-rays. This means that decay may go undetected until it has grown into a serious problem that could warrant a root canal.

In addition, when looking at a tooth without an x-ray, it's easier to spot the beginning signs of decay under a composite filling, because of staining around the edges. With amalgam fillings, the edges will tarnish or corrode, which is a much less visible marker than staining.

In addition, amalgam fillings do not strengthen teeth against cracks or decay. They actually act as a wedge that can increase the chances that a tooth will crack, especially if the filling is large.

An amalgam filling also lacks the adhesive properties that are present with a composite filling. The adhesion in a composite filling helps to distribute the pressure from chewing evenly over the whole tooth, which makes the tooth about 15-20% stronger than it would be with an amalgam filling.