Tooth Colored Fillings, White Fillings, Porcelain Fillings

Porcelain fillings at Advanced Smile Designs in Santa Cruz County, California are designed to offer an alternative to mercury-containing fillings. At Dr. Forsberg's dental practice, we use composite resin and porcelain fillings because they offer our patients a cosmetically attractive and very durable alternative to metal amalgam fillings.

What is a Tooth Colored or Porcelain Filling?

A tooth colored filling is created from a composite resin (also known as dental bonding) or porcelain that can be tinted to nearly any color. This allows Aptos cosmetic dentist, Terry W. Forsberg, DDS to precisely match the color of your fillings to the color of your natural teeth. During the filling placement, the composite resin bonds with the enamel of your own teeth and creates a seal that is extremely strong and durable.

Composite fillings offer a much more pleasing appearance than metal amalgam fillings. This type of filling also requires less tooth removal and therefore the use of less resin material to create the filling when compared to a metal filling. When doing larger dental fillings, porcelain dental inlays and onlays are used for greater strength.

Dental inlay and onlay procedures are similar in some ways to the old traditional way that teeth were filled. The major difference is the appearance and the strength of the porcelain. First, your tooth is prepared by removing any decay and then etching the surface of the tooth with a mild chemical so that the surface is just rough enough for the composite cement to bond to the porcelain.

CEREC

We often use CEREC technology to image and mill the porcelain inlays and onlays in our office and then color and glaze the porcelain to allow this procedure to be done in one visit or two visits in less than a week. Studies have shown this porcelain to be as durable as gold over a 15 year period.

Dental Inlays

Dental inlays are placed where the indentations exist on the tops of a patient's molars or bicuspids. Damage and decay to this area of the tooth is fairly common and can cause problems when eating as well as persistent pain in the area. Having dental inlays placed will not interfere with any of your normal activities and is a good alternative if you want to replace metal fillings that are in your molars or bicuspids already. They are made of porcelain or indirect resin and with proper care and oral hygiene may be the longest lasting restoration that can be placed in a “filling” space.

Dental Onlays

Dental onlays are placed on the cusps of the patient's molars. Dental onlays work to preserve the structure of the tooth because very little of the tooth's surface is altered during preparation. Like other white fillings and dental inlays, onlays are extremely difficult to detect when they are colored and placed and are also stronger than fillings.

To learn more about tooth colored fillings at Advanced Smile Designs in Santa Cruz County, California, please contact cosmetic dentist, Terry W. Forsberg, DDS to schedule a white filling appointment today. Serving areas of Aptos, Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Capitola.