Most people have fillings of one sort or another but today, because we are much more conscious of our smile, we can choose something strong and completely natural looking – the composite or tooth coloured filling.

A composite resin is a tooth coloured plastic mixture filled with glass (silicon dioxide) first introduced in the 1960’s. They have evolved over the last 50 years and are now beautiful strong and durable and the shade can be matched to your own teeth. They are usually set with a bright blue light.

Composite fillings are usually more difficult and time consuming to place than silver amalgam fillings and are therefore more expensive. To be successful they need to be placed a bit at a time and in a dry environment, not easy to achieve in the mouth.

They are not always suitable for very large filling and a crown or a porcelain inlay is indicated as a long term restoration. Tooth coloured fillings bond chemically to the tooth and are often used where there are cracks in the teeth. Some patients are unhappy about the mercury content in silver fillings and in many cases these can be replaced with tooth coloured fillings.