Serving Mesa, Phoenix, Gilbert, Tempe And Scottsdale, Arizona
White composite dental fillings are a beautiful way to fill small holes in your teeth while preserving the integrity of your tooth. Drs of Smiles only offers filings that are metal-free.
Preserving Your Tooth
White composite dental fillings are used to fill small holes and areas of decay. Filling the hole protects your tooth from further decay and damage. Composite filling require the removal of very little tooth material.
Silver amalgam fillings contain mercury causing them to expand and contract when exposed to hot and cold foods and beverages. This weakens your tooth, can cause them to crack, and allows food particles to get under the filling causing more decay.
White dental fillings do not expand and contract and can actually strengthen your tooth.
Comfort
Composite fillings do not conduct heat and cold so they do not cause painful sensitivity to hot and cold foods and beverages. Since they do not expand and contract they do not cause painful fractures or decay in your tooth.
Your dental filling will be sculpted and polished to perfectly match your teeth and fit seamlessly.
Beauty
Learning that you had a cavity used to mean you were going to have to live with a shiny silver colored filling, which would eventually tarnish and look like a rotten spot in your tooth. Even in the back of your mouth, metal fillings show when you talk and laugh.
White fillings are tooth-colored, so they won’t be visible. They do not tarnish or stain your teeth.
Replacing Your Old Fillings
Whether your old dental fillings are failing or just look bad, you don’t have to live with them any longer. Mesa dentists Dr. Glenn LeSueur or Dr. Dodaro can replace them with beautiful white composite fillings or porcelain inlays and onlays.
Preventative Maintenance – More Than Just Looks
Everyone knows that replacing your old metal dental fillings with white tooth colored composite fillings will make you look better. What you may not know is that your old dental fillings could be damaging your teeth, and possibly your health.
Metal amalgam fillings react to temperature changes by expanding and contracting. Your old amalgam dental fillings expand and contract whenever you put hot or cold foods and beverages in your mouth. This can:
- Crack and fracture your teeth
- Allow particles to get under the dental filling causing decay
- Weaken your tooth
- Cause tooth pain
- Allow the dental filling to come loose or fall out
Increased Comfort & Beauty With White Tooth Colored Fillings
Pain sensitivity to heat and cold can be caused by your old metal dental fillings. Properly placed white tooth colored fillings and porcelain inlays and onlays do not conduct the heat and cold and therefore significantly reduce tooth sensitive. You can eat all of your favorite foods again without fear of sensitivity.
When you first got your old dental fillings, they were bright and shiny metal. Over time, however, metal amalgam dental fillings can become tarnished and darkened. This can make them look like decaying, unhealthy teeth. They also leach into the tooth and discolor the whole tooth.
Your white tooth colored fillings and porcelain inlay or onlay replacements will not tarnish, become stained, or stain your teeth. They will be perfectly matched to the color of you natural teeth, fit seamlessly, and help restore a beautiful smile.
Health Concerns
The potential health impact of amalgam dental fillings is still a matter of debate within the medical community. There is no question that mercury poisoning has a devastating impact on your health. However, at this time it is uncertain whether or not enough mercury can be released from your dental fillings into your body to cause significant harm.
Rather than take a wait-and-see approach, many patients choose to have their old dental fillings replaced for this reason alone.
The Mercury Controversy
Metal amalgam fillings are being used less and less. This is partly due to their unappealing appearance, but many people are also avoiding them or having them replaced because of the health problems they may cause. The medical community is currently divided on the issue.
Potential Risks Of Amalgam Dental Fillings
Amalgam dental fillings contain mercury. Mercury is known to be a highly toxic substance. Mercury vapors are released from these dental fillings when they are placed, when they are removed, and even when you chew.
It is yet to be determined how much mercury is actually released by amalgam dental fillings and absorbed into the body. Some studies have been conducted, but the results have been conflicting. As a result, it is still unclear whether amalgam fillings place you at risk of mercury poisoning.
Some of the negative health effects of mercury poisoning include:
- Gum problems
- Loose teeth
- Mood swings
- Hallucinations
- Memory loss
- Tremors
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Birth defects
- Multiple sclerosis
- Arthritis
- Kidney damage
FDA Review
The FDA created an advisory panel in 2006 to debate the safety of amalgam dental fillings. The advisory panel found that there was no evidence that amalgam fillings cause health problems in most people. But it recommended that the FDA reevaluate the literature, wanting more information about the effects on pregnant women, children, people who are sensitive to mercury, and on the exposure levels during placement and removal of amalgam dental fillings.
Lawmakers around the country have been trying to phase out the use of amalgam fillings due to the potential health risks and the environmental impact of mercury waste.
The Response Of Dentists
Many dentists have decided to make their practices “metal free” partly due to the potential health risks of mercury, but also because amalgam dental fillings can damage your teeth. Today we have much better materials for dental restorations, such as composite or porcelain, which are more aesthetically pleasing, better for your teeth, and do not pose these potential health risks.
At this time we do not know for sure whether the amounts of mercury released into your body from dental fillings is dangerous. But with superior materials available, our Mesa dentists choose not to expose our patients to any possible risk. We are also happy to replace your old metal fillings with porcelain dental fillings to improve the safety and aesthetics of your restoration.
Dr. Glenn LeSueur and Dr. Charles Dodaro are Mesa dentists, serving Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Gilbert, Chandler, and other East Valley Cities in Arizona, combine LVI training and state-of-the-art technology to bring you, and your entire family, the very best and healthiest cosmetic and neuromuscular dental care.
Visit our before and after gallery to see the results we are able to achieve for our patients. Please contact or call 480.834.6991 to schedule a consultation at Drs of Smiles.