Dental decay is the process of acid softening and dissolving the enamel and dentine of your teeth.
It is caused by the sugars in the food we eat and drink reacting with the bacteria in plaque, which creates an acid that dissolves your teeth. Over time, the acid will produce a cavity (hole) in your tooth. Without treatment, dental decay can cause further damage to your dental health, and may result in the loss of your tooth
If the tooth decay is not too serious, your dentist will remove all of the affected area and restore the tooth with a filling. Dental fillings are made to restore and fill the cavity in your tooth, preventing further damage and making sure that your smile stays healthier and happier
Without fillings, the cavity caused by dental decay will continue to get bigger. As it gets worse, it can lead to an abscess (a pus-filled pocket that forms at the end of the roots of the tooth) and pain. This ultimately can lead to the loss of your tooth
In the days when there was no alternative, amalgam or "silver" fillings were accepted and did an outstanding job. Where they have never performed well is in how they look. Our teeth are shades of white, so why would we choose to have shades of grey? Not only does an amalgam filling stand out, but it can discolour the whole tooth behind the enamel.
Luckily these days there is an alternative – white composite resin that matches your tooth colour exactly. This material is a little more expensive than amalgam but the benefit - retaining the appearance of your natural teeth - is priceless.
We still use amalgam but we use white fillings (composite) more often. Many of our patients with old amalgam fillings are also coming in to have them replaced with white composite, for cosmetic reasons or because they are concerned about the safety of amalgam. We are guided by the British Dental Association, which states that amalgam is safe.
As dentists we believe prevention is always better than cure and will always encourage and help you to look after your teeth so you don't develop tooth decay in the first place. If you do have decay and need a filling then the dentist will always give you all the options available to restore your tooth.
For very large cavities and fillings there is another restorative option that is sometimes recommended by the dentist: A hard wearing and long lasting piece of metal or tooth coloured material that is designed and milled to exactly fill your tooth. This is created in a laboratory and involves a similar process to that of a crown but is more conservative than a traditional crown.
There are two types of these:
ONLAYS – smaller than crowns but still quite extensive restorations covering the biting surface of the tooth in full
INLAYS – smaller and don’t generally cover the whole biting surface of a tooth
