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Dental Filling
"Dental filling" expression has the correct medical term - "dental restoration".
However, majority of us are accustomed to the root canal filling to restore space of dental pulp.
Dental filling procedure uses dental restorative material to restore external and internal structure of the tooth. Generally, there are two steps for dental restoration:
- Preparing tooth
- Placing restorative material
There are variety of modern materials which are used for dental filling. These could be metals, metallic alloys, composite resins, glass ionomer cement and porcelain. Generally, you can expect a price-tag of $75-$145 per basic filling. However, more expensive fillings will obviously cost more.
Dental Filling - Procedure
As it was mentioned earlier, tooth restoration requires two stages: tooth preparation and then the actual placement of dental filling. Firstly, a dentist needs to prepare the tooth. This often requires removal of decaying tissue with dental burrs. There are two types of tooth preparations:
- Intracoronal tooth preparations
- Extracoronal tooth preparations
Intracoronal types are used to place dental restorative material within the structure of the tooth. The extracoronal preparation deals with the outside structure of the tooth (mainly for cosmetic reasons). The most important factor in tooth preparation is a dental decay. It is this issue which will determine the amount of the preparation and the amount of restorative material needed for dental fillings. Once the tooth is prepared then restoration follows. Again, two types of restorations exist:
- Direct restoration
- Indirect restoration
The direct restoration uses soft filling which is manipulated by the dentist until the material hardens.
This is a quick and the least troubled method, which often requires only one visit to the dentist.
The indirect method is complex. Dental impressions of the prepared tooth are used outside the mouth.
The finished indirect restoration is finally cemented onto the tooth. This method is expensive, long and only used when necessary.
Dental Filling - Materials
There are variety of materials used for dental filling. These are:
- Metals and metallic alloys dental fillings
- Composite resins dental fillings
- Porcelain dental fillings
Metals and Metallic Alloys Dental Filling
Metals and metallic alloys which can further be subdivided into:
- Precious metallic alloys: This group uses precious metals like gold, titanium, gold-platina. These materials are the strongest but also the most expensive.
- Base metallic alloys: mainly cobalt-chromium alloy.
- Amalgam.
Composite Resins Dental Filling
Composite resins dental fillings are widely used for cosmetics. However, these are not as strong as metal or porcelain against wear and tear.
Porcelain Dental Filling
Porcelain is the great non-metallic option for dental restoration. As with resins, it is a perfect material for cosmetics but also great for strength. It is not as hard as metal but stronger then resins. This material is expensive and used mainly in indirect restoration.
Dental Filling - Cost
Generally, you can expect to pay $75 to $150 per filling. The composite fillings may set you back by $200. The rule of thumb is - find an honest dentist! Cheap dental filling do more damage to your health than no fillings at all. If you pay $86-$100 per filling to your trusted dentist then probably you have a dental filling which will last a lifetime. Be aware of composite fillings - they look nice but they do shrink and pop-out. Another word of advice: do not get amalgam!!! It has traces of mercury which is harmful for your body.