What are fillings made of?
What are fillings made of?Dr. Jackson: Most fillings today are white fillings. They are made out of a composite resin and they actually bond to your tooth. A lot of people don’t like that they have silver fillings that have been placed before. Those are fillings that we actually don’t currently place. However, if people do have silver fillings that are happy and healthy without any decay around them, we do feel like they are safe to maintain and keep as long as those fillings stay happy and healthy.
What is the composite filling made of?
Dr. Jackson: It’s a resin material, so it’s a plastic-based material, and it also has some other chemicals to help bond the resin together. When we put it in your tooth, it actually is kind of sort of like a Play-Doh type material. Then we use a curing light or a light that has a different frequency to set it and make it hard.
Is the composite as hard as the old style tooth fillings?
Dr. Jackson: It is not as hard. It is actually closer to the hardness of the actual material that makes up your tooth, the part of your tooth. The silver fillings were actually harder than the middle layer of your tooth, what’s called the dentin, which is one of the reasons why people don’t like them. Sometimes they say that silver fillings will crack your teeth, but it is actually closer to what is most ideal for your teeth, the white fillings are.
