DENTAL FILLING-PART 1: Are you scare of dental fillings?

Scare of dental fillings?  You are not alone. The fear of the unknown has cause many people avoid from getting they dental work done. 

Now, We want you to SCARE NO MORE! 

ASKDENT would like to help you understand exactly what happens when you go to the dentist for a filling. 

Q: Why we need fillings?

Your tooth need fillings because they are broken or cavitated. Hole forms in a tooth, our body cannot repair it. Hundreds of years ago (before fillings existed), cavities eventually caused people so much pain that they would have the tooth removed.

Amazingly, modern dentistry has found a way to let you keep your decayed teeth. All that needs to be done is to have the bacteria professionally removed and then to replace the hole in the tooth with a hard, tooth-like material known as a dental filling.

Q: KNOW YOUR CHOICE, tooth color or metal color? 

There are a variety of different materials that can be used for filling teeth. The two most common filling materials, which are amalgam (SILVER Metal color filling) and  composite resin (Tooth color filling).

Amalgam fillings are more commonly known as silver fillings. They are made up of silver, tin, copper, zinc, and mercury.

Amalgam fillings have been in use for over 180 years in the field of dentistry. When the metals in amalgam come together, they form a soft material that can be used to build your tooth back to its original form. 

After a few minutes, the amalgam begins to harden as the metals integrate together. Although pure mercury is toxic, the mercury found in amalgam fillings is locked inside when the filling hardens and is therefore not harmful. 

Many studies have shown that dental amalgam is a safe, long lasting filling material. It is commonly used in back teeth to withstand the strong biting force. 

Composite resin fillings are more commonly known as white fillings, tooth-colored fillings. They are made up of very tiny pieces of silica surrounded by a plastic resin usually composed of bis-GMA. Composite fillings are newer than amalgam fillings and are constantly improving. The composite resin is about the consistency of modeling clay. In order for the composite to harden, the dentist shines a bright blue light on it. Through a series of chemical reactions, the composite resin hardens into a very strong material that looks very much like a natural tooth.