Silver fillings. They sound so classy, but let’s face it, silver fillings are not really silver. They only look a bit silver, and once they are in your mouth, they actually look more dark grey to black. And not classy at all.

At Benhill Dental Practice in Sutton, a lot of our patients are moving from silver to white fillings.

Why change from silver to white?

Although amalgam is deemed safe, it does contain mercury and some people believe that amalgam fillings can lead to ill health. This is one reason why some patients choose to have all their amalgam fillings replaced with white composite fillings.

White fillings are put into the tooth in a different way from amalgam. Layers of white composite are packed into the cavity and then cured with a UV light. Once the layers are built up and the last layer is cured, the dentist can then sculpt the surface of the filling so that it has the grooves and ridges that one finds on the chewing surface of a natural molar. This cannot be done with amalgam, which only gives a flat chewing surface. When you have lots of fillings in your molars having a good chewing surface on each one can make quite a difference to processing your food, and to the pressure on each tooth.

Another great reason to go for white fillings is that the dentist only needs to remove the decayed part of the tooth. Amalgam fillings require the removal of healthy tooth tissues as well. This means a bigger hole, and thinner sides to the tooth, which weakens it. So teeth filled with white composite are stronger than those filled with amalgam, and therefore likely to last longer.

And lastly, white fillings look great. You can laugh your head off and not worry that those you are with are being treated to a display of your dental history. All they will see are rows of lovely, strong white teeth.

If you want to make the move from silver to white fillings, why not give us a call. You can do them all at once, or one by one as your old silver fillings start to wear out.