If dentists detect cavities in your tooth during regular exams, they recommend you have the hole filled immediately to prevent further damages. Dentists also offer you different materials to fill the cavity, including gold, silver amalgam, composite, ceramic, and glass ionomer.

The filling materials described are suitable as fillers for decayed teeth. However, some materials are better suited for certain teeth. The dentist is an optimal professional to determine which material best suits your needs considering your budget and current dental health.

When analyzing to decide which filler is fully suited for your needs, you must factor in the position of the cavity in your mouth, the severity of the corrosion, the cost of the filler, besides your insurance coverage. Learn more about different filling materials before deciding for yourself.

• Gold Fillings: Gold fillers are incredibly durable and last for approximately 15 years with proper dental care. Gold is a noncorrosive material but is more expensive than silver amalgam fillings and requires at least two visits to the dentist before you can have them.
• Silver Amalgam Fillings: Silver fillings are also durable and sturdy. However, many people prefer not to have them because they aren’t aesthetically pleasing. Additionally, they are likely to expand and contract to cause tooth cracks when compared to other varieties. Many people also worry about the mercury in silver amalgam fillings, a known neurotoxin, and think the long-term safety of these fillers is not suitable. However, the FDA has confirmed these fillers are safe and do not cause any harm to the teeth or dental health of patients having them.
• Ceramic Fillings: Ceramic fillings are aesthetically pleasing because dentists can closely match them to blend with your other teeth. However, ceramic fillings are expensive and wear the teeth in the opposite jaw when the porcelain roughens.
• Composite Fillings: Tooth-colored composite dental filling is an attractive option because dentists can match it with your remaining teeth. Unfortunately, composite fillings are not as durable as silver amalgam despite their higher prices.
• Class Ionomer: Glass ionomer fillings are an excellent choice for the developing teeth of children. These fillers are also not durable and last merely for five years. However, they release fluoride helping prevent tooth decay in children.

Choosing the Best Filling Material for Your Cavity

Trying to determine which filler is best for your teeth is pretty challenging, especially if you are also concerned about aesthetic preferences. The Park Ridge dentist usually recommends silver amalgam fillings for molars and a composite dental filling for the front teeth. The professional has a relatively fair idea of the type of filler best suited for the cavity in the specific location in your mouth. Therefore, you should adhere to the dentist’s advice if you don’t want to spend considerable sums on expensive fillers by making a choice yourself.

You help yourself by understanding all the filling materials available are suitable for filling any teeth with cavities. For example, suppose you want to display gold fillers on your front teeth. In that case, the dentist in Park Ridge will happily advise you ahead of time that the filling materials require customization from a dental lab after preparing your tooth. It would help if you had a temporary filler in the cavity until you revisit the dentist to place the gold filling.

You can have a composite dental filling on your molars if you desire. However, it would help if you remembered the fillers need replacements faster than silver amalgam and will undoubtedly cost you more than silver. Therefore it is best to let the dentist help you determine which material is best suited for the cavity in your mouth. Dentists with sufficient knowledge about dentistry advise you appropriately after considering the biting pressures in your mouth, the cost of the filling materials, their durability, and your current oral health. Dentists also consider your aesthetic appearance and recommend the best filling materials available to ensure your smile does not remain impacted.