White Fillings

A considerable option to improve the cosmetic look of your smile and make it brighter and more attractive is to get your conventional silver amalgam (metal coloured) fillings replaced with tooth-coloured or ‘white fillings.’

You may wonder what white fillings are. White fillings are also popularly known as composite fillings. These fillings will allow you to smile without a metallic glint in sight, giving your teeth a more natural appearance overall and almost an invisible restoration.

Amalgam Fillings

These fillings use liquid mercury and a metal alloy mixture to fill the cavities or gaps caused by dental caries/tooth decay.

A typical amalgam filling is made up of mercury (50%), silver (~22–32%), tin (~14%), copper (~8%), and some other trace metals.

It is a silver-grey mass condensed in the cavities and allowed to harden.

These are now readily being replaced by white or tooth-coloured fillings, which give you a natural-looking makeover.

Types Of White Tooth Fillings

• Macro-Filled: Filler type is Quartz.
  – Particle size is: 10-25μm.
  – Filler content is about 70-80% by weight.
• Micro-Filled: Filler type is fused silica.
  – Particle size is: 0.03-0.5μm.
  – Filler content is: 40-50%.
• Hybrid: Filler content is 75-80%.
  – Particle size is 0.5- 1.00 μm, which is why it is called a hybrid.
• Nano Filled: Nanosized particles are added in this, which are approximately 100 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair.