FILLINGS
"RESTORATIONS"

Thanks to advances in modern dental materials and techniques, there are more ways to create pleasing, natural-looking smiles.  As a result, there are several choices when it comes to selecting materials to repair worn, damaged or decayed teeth.  The ultimate decision about what to use is best determined by you, the patient.  At Chesterfield Valley Dental Group, we will give you all your options,and discuss what will work best before your treatment begins.

DIRECT RESTORATIONS:  
   Direct restorations are fillings placed immediately into a prepared cavity in a single visit.  They include dental amalgam, glass ionomers, resin ionomers, and resin composite fillings.  These restorations are placed and adjusted in one visit.  Amalgam "silver" fillings have been use by dentists for more than a century.  It is very durable easy to use, resistant to wear, and relatively inexpensive in comparison to other materials.  Composite fillings are a mixture of glass or quartz filler in a resin body that produces a tooth colored filling.  Composites have good durability and resistance to fracture.  Less tooth structure is removed when we prepare the tooth for a composite filling, since composites are bonded into the prepared cavity.  Composite fillings give an esthetic result as nature intended.  Composite fillings (Bonding) can be used on both anterior and posterior teeth.  In the anterior,  compostites can be used to change the shape of the tooth to achieve outstanding results including tooth lightening, closing spaces between teeth, making teeth appear straighter, and repairing chips and cracks.  Composite fillings can give the appearance of natural tooth structure (see photos to the left).

INDIRECT RESTORATIONS:  
  Indirect restorations are custom-made restorations, which usually require two visits.  These include inlays and onlays.  Inlays are very much like fillings, and they fit within the contours of  the tooth.  An onlay is similar to an inlay, but it is larger and covers some or all chewing surfaces of the tooth.  Inlays and onlays require the reduction of less tooth structure in comparison to a crown.  Materials used to fabricate these restorations are porcelain, porcelain fused to metal,  and gold. 
Indirect restorations usually have a higher cost due to the number and length of visits required, and the additional cost of having the restoration made in a dental laboratory.  With these types of restorations it is possible to bond teeth back together, virtually restoring them back to their original strength without the invasiveness of full coverage crowns.