parents looking at a child with a healthy smile

Get Composite Dental Fillings From Your Local Green Bay Dentists

The professionals at Oral Health Associates provide the latest options in restorative dentistry. While fillings have been around for a long time, the technology regarding their use and formation has evolved. Our Green Bay dentists take into account your needs for fillings, and we even have the option to provide patients with metal-free fillings that look like natural teeth.

Tooth diagram showing a cavity in need of a composite filling.

What Are Dental Fillings?

When a tooth experiences decay, it is often on the inside. Eventually the decay on the inside of a tooth reaches the outside, providing proof of a problem to the patient and dental professional in the form of a cavity. Fillings are made of materials that fill this void in order to stop the progression of decay and make the tooth strong again.

Types Of Dental Fillings

There are two main types of dental fillings: metal and metal-free. Metal fillings can be either made of amalgam, which is a silver-colored option used for over 100 years, or cast gold. Amalgam contains mercury, silver, tin, and copper. Cast gold is a combination of gold and other metals, but does not include mercury.

Metal-free fillings are either composite or porcelain. Composite is a mix of glass and plastic that bond to the rest of the tooth for a natural look. Porcelain is a high-tech ceramic that is not only natural looking, but it is also more difficult to stain than the composite option.

Tooth with a metal filling next to a tooth with a metal-free, composite filling.

Additional Options for Tooth Repair

There are times when a filling does not offer the coverage or repair desired for the amount of decay to the tooth. When the damage is too much for a filling but too little to require a crown, patients may be able to receive an inlay or onlay. Inlays and onlays are made by a lab outside of the dental office. Inlays cover the area within the cusps of premolars or back molars. Onlays rest over one or more of the cusps.

Fix Your Smile With Composite Dental Fillings

Your Green Bay family dentists at Oral Health Associates believe in providing you with all of the best options, which includes metal-free fillings. To learn more, contact us by calling 920-437-3376, or request an appointment online. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

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