Tooth Coloured Fillings

If you have a cavity in your tooth, we will need to repair it. Placing a tooth coloured filling will help restore strength and structure to the tooth, so it looks and feels natural. The filling is designed to completely seal the cavity, preventing further infection and decay and protecting and preserving the tooth.

Traditionally, silver-coloured amalgam fillings were used to repair teeth. However, nowadays, there are more modern materials available that not only look aesthetically pleasing but are also very biocompatible, meaning they work harmoniously with your tooth and closely mimic its natural structure and appearance.

Here at Smilexcellence, we offer two types of fillings. They can either be made from tooth-coloured composite resin or porcelain. Our recommended treatment depends on the tooth's location in your mouth and the size of the cavity.

Composite Resin Fillings

If you have a small to a medium-sized cavity in a tooth, we may recommend a composite resin filling, a restoration that is made chairside in a single appointment. Composite resin is very durable, and we keep a large range of different shades in stock so our dentist can closely match the shade of your filling to your natural tooth. The result is a virtually invisible filling. After preparing your tooth and removing the damaged portion, our dentist will place the composite resin in small increments, which quickly hardens. Once hard, the dentist will shape and polish the filling, so it looks like real tooth enamel.
While composite resin is very durable, it can become stained over time, especially if you prefer tea and coffee or smoke or like highly coloured foods. In addition, composite resin is not suitable for larger fillings where greater strength is needed, and we may suggest a porcelain filling.

Porcelain Fillings

A porcelain filling is also called an inlay or onlay, and we recommend this restoration if you have a larger cavity in the chewing surface of a back tooth. An inlay restores just the central part of the chewing surface, whereas an onlay is slightly larger, restoring one or more tooth cusps, the raised points on the edges of a tooth.
Porcelain fillings are not made in the mouth, as our dentist will first prepare the tooth before taking a dental impression so the filling can be custom-made in the dental lab. While it is being made, we place a temporary filling to protect your tooth. Your new porcelain filling is fitted and bonded onto the tooth during your next visit. Although little more expensive than composite resin, porcelain fillings last longer and will not stain.