Tooth fillings and dental crowns have been two of the most common ways dentist can repair tooth decay and wear and tear of your teeth.
The material options for fillings are generally amalgam and composite, and gold or porcelain for crowns.
Amalgam fillings, also called silver fillings due to their color, are made of a combination of metals, including mercury. Used for over a hundred years and praised for being hard wearing and their ability to last for a couple of decades with the proper care, concerns have been raised about the use of amalgam because it contains mercury.
Mercury can affect your health in several ways, and symptoms can include anxiety, irritability, memory loss, headaches, and fatigue.
The concern is how much mercury gets released from the dental fillings and how much the body absorbs it. While in the past in was thought that no mercury was released from the amalgam fillings, in recent years sophisticated tests have challenged this view.
Some people are also allergic to amalgam, and it’s certainly not recommended for pregnant women, as there may be a chance for mercury to be passed to the baby via the placenta.
Another downside of amalgam fillings is that, over time, like most metals, they will corrode and even leak resulting in tooth decay reoccurring beneath the filling. Also, the amalgam gradually expands causing the part of the tooth next to the filling to eventually fracture, next requiring a much larger filling, a crown or in some cases even extraction of the tooth.
At Smiles by Stevens, as part of our premier dental services and consideration for your well-being, we choose to keep your mouth metal free, so we use composite or porcelain in fillings or crowns.
Composite filings are tooth colored and provide a more natural appearance. Besides the visual benefits, modern medical advances have also resulted in composite fillings lasting as long as amalgam fillings.
Composite resins or fillings can be used on either front or back teeth, provide good durability and are quite resistant to fracture in small to mid-size fillings.
Porcelain type fillings are much more precise and biocompatible than silver fillings for the cavity in your tooth.
We all want to be healthy, and we also want a white, bright smile, so our goal is to help you achieve it with cutting-edge dental services that include fillings that blend with the natural color of your teeth.
The advantages of tooth-colored composite fillings include a more natural appearance where no one will be able to see that you had a cavity filled, as well as often strengthening of the filled tooth, and a better seal that bonding of the filling to the tooth creates.
Quality dental crowns made of composite material or porcelain help restore damaged, broken, or decaying teeth, and we design these restorations to seamlessly blend in with your other teeth.
When you choose Smiles by Stevens, you’re choosing one of the most recognized and trusted dental offices in the area for all your dental needs, where you’ll receive first-class care by one of PA’s top 20 dentists in our comfortable and stress-free environment.
Dr. Shea F. Stevens, your trustworthy dentist Lancaster PA, specializes in general, cosmetic, and implant dentistry.
We believe that prevention is the best medicine, so we invite you to be proactive and decrease your risk of cavities and other dental diseases by brushing your teeth after every meal or at least twice a day, flossing daily, eating a balanced diet, and visiting your dentist regularly.
When considering dentists in Lancaster, count on Smiles By Stevens and find out for yourself why Dr. Shea F. Stevens continues to be one of Pennsylvania’s top 20 dentists.
Contact us today to learn more about the dental fillings and how we can assist you.
