Fillings
The traditional choice for restoring a tooth that suffered from some destructive factor, such as decay, was to place either an amalgam ("silver") or composite ("white") filling in the tooth. Advances in dental materials offer a significant range of options when restoring a tooth. There are several composite materials available which differ in their physical properties (strength, fracture resistance, etc) and their aesthetics (ability to emulate the appearance of natural teeth). Inlays and onlays are a very useful addition to the options available and provide a more durable and aesthetic alternative to filling materials.
The primary benefits of amalgam are lower cost and moderate strength. The disadvantages are poor aesthetics, poor bonding to teeth structure and tendency to lose marginal integrity over time. This results in obviously dark fillings that depend on staying in place on the tightness of fit and which will eventually allow in bacteria at the edge of the filling.
Composite fillings can be obtained in a range of shades so that a good match can be made with the shade of the tooth being repaired and they can be bonded to the underlying tooth structure. The result is a restored tooth that looks substantially more natural.
