White Fillings & Dental Bonding

White Fillings and Dental Bonding by Antelope Creek Family Dentistry

Serving Lincoln, Lancaster County and Nebraska

Fillings

Before	After

The concept of a “filling” is replacing and restoring your tooth structure that is damaged due to decay or fracture with a material. We will replace old, broken-down amalgam/metal fillings that contain traces of mercury with white fillings to restore your smile and teeth to a more natural look and feel. Drs. Treat and Hedlund will give you two choices: composite resin fillings or porcelain fillings. Each of these fillings is tooth-colored and natural-looking.

With today’s advancements, no longer will you have to suffer the embarrassment of unsightly and unhealthy silver/mercury fillings or metal margins of the past. Eliminate the dark, black appearance in your teeth with new-age, state-of-the-art, tooth-colored resin or porcelain materials.

White Fillings versus Silver Amalgam Fillings:

• White fillings bond to the tooth; they strengthen the tooth by restoring most of its original shape. Silver amalgams, on the other hand, weaken the teeth and make them more susceptible to breaking. Broken teeth can be very expensive to replace; white amalgam can actually save time and money in the long run.
• White filling composites are preferred by most patients. This is due to the natural color, strength and overall appearance and feel. Composites are naturally more comfortable.
• Hot and cold sensitivity is greatly reduced with composite material compared to the silver/mercury amalgams.
• Restorations with composites require less removal of tooth, less structure to place than those with amalgams and especially with new cavities. Dramatically smaller holes are needed with a composite.
• White fillings are healthier because no traces of mercury are used, unlike silver amalgams.

Please note that although our office prefers to place white fillings, we will still place amalgam fillings per patient request. After all, we are here to serve you!

Before	After

All pictures are of actual patients that Drs. Treat and Hedlund have treated. No paid professional modeling pictures are used on our website.

Composite Bonding

Before	After

Bonding is a common solution for:

• Fixing or repairing chipped or cracked teeth
• Reducing unsightly gaps or spaces between teeth
• Hiding discoloration or faded areas on the tooth’s surface

Often, composite boding is used to improve the appearance of your teeth and enhance your smile. As the name indicates, composite material, either a plastic or resin, is bonded to an existing tooth. Unlike veneers or crowns, composite bonding removes little, if any, of the original tooth.

Composite bonding has many advantages:

• It is a quick process, which typically lasts less than one hour.
• It does not reduce the tooth’s original structure and is relatively inexpensive.
• Composite resins come in many different shades and provide better matching of shades to the natural color of your teeth.
• Composite bonds, however, are not as durable and long-lasting as veneers and crowns and may need to be re-touched or replaced in the future.

Composite bonds stain more easily and therefore require proper care and regular cleaning. In order to ensure the longest possible duration of the bonding, composites should be brushed and flossed daily. Common staining elements include coffee, tea, tobacco, foods and candy.

Before	After

All pictures are of actual patients that Drs. Treat and Hedlund have treated. No paid professional modeling pictures are used on our website.

Please contact our office if you have any further questions on white fillings or dental bonding. Feel good, look great!