White Fillings

A considerable option to improve the cosmetic look of your smile and make it more bright and attractive is to get your conventional silver amalgam (metal coloured) fillings replaced by the 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- 1.00μm, 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.