Dental Fillings in Dubai

Fillings are pieces of metal, plastic, glass, or other materials that are put into teeth to fix or restore them. One of the most common uses of fillings is to “fill” a spot on a tooth that a dentist has removed because of decay. This spot is called a “cavity.” Fillings are also used to fix teeth that are cracked, broken, or have worn down from use (such as from nail-biting or tooth grinding).

Some types of dental fillings are:

• Gold.
• Porcelain.
• Silver amalgam (contains mercury mixed with silver, tin, zinc, and copper).
• Tooth-colored, plastic and glass materials called composite resin fillings.

The type of filling that will best meet your needs depends on where and how bad the decay is, how much it costs, what your insurance covers, and what your dentist recommends.

Yes. Here are the pros and cons of the different types of dental filling materials:

Advantages:

• Gold: Some people say gold looks nice and lasts at least 10 to 15 years.
• Silver fillings (amalgams): Costs less than composite fillings and lasts for at least 10 to 15 years.
• Tooth coloredcomposite fillings: Color can be closely matched to the colour of the existing teeth, it bonds to the existing tooth to give it more support, it is used for more than just filling cavities, and sometimes less tooth needs to be taken out than with amalgams.
• Ceramics/porcelain: It lasts more than 15 years and is less likely to get stained than composite resin.
• Glass ionomer (acrylic and a specific type of glass material): Fluoride is released from these fillings, which are mostly used for fillings below the gum line. This can help prevent further tooth decay.

Disadvantages:

• Gold: More expensive than other materials, may require more than one office visit to place.
• Silver: May require more tooth to be removed to make space large enough to hold filling, creates grayish hue to the surrounding tooth structure, may have higher risk of tooth cracks and fractures due to wider degree of expansion and contraction, allergic potential in some people.
• Tooth-colored composite fillings: Lasts at least five years (less than the 10 to 15 years of other materials), may chip off tooth depending on location, can cost up to twice as much as amalgams, can take more time to place and/or additional visits.
• Ceramics: Can cost as much as gold.
• Glass ionomer: Is weaker than composite resin, more likely to wear and prone to fracture, lasts five years or less, costs comparable to composite fillings.
  
  

Indirect fillings are similar to composite or tooth-colored fillings, but they are made in a dental lab and need to be put in place over the course of two visits. Indirect fillings are used when there isn’t enough tooth structure left to hold a filling, but the damage isn’t so bad that a crown is needed.

At the first appointment, decay or an old filling are taken out. An impression is made of the tooth that needs to be fixed and the teeth that surround it. The mould is sent to a dental lab, where the indirect filling is made. To protect the tooth while your permanent filling is being made, a temporary filling is put in place. During the second visit, the dentist takes out the temporary filling and checks how well the indirect restoration fits. If the fit is good, it will be stuck there for good with cement.

Inlays and onlays are the two types of indirect fillings.

• Inlays are like fillings, but all of the work is done inside the bumps (cusps) of the tooth’s chewing surface.
• Onlays are bigger than inlays because they cover one or more cusps. Onlays are also called “partial crowns” at times.

Traditional fillings don’t last as long as inlays and onlays, which can last up to 30 years. They can be made of gold, porcelain, or tooth-colored composite resin. Inlays and onlays weaken the structure of the tooth, but not as much as traditional fillings do.

Direct inlays and onlays are another type of inlay and onlay. They are made in the dentist’s office and can be put in place in just one visit. What kind of inlay or onlay is used depends on how much healthy tooth structure is still there and how the tooth looks.

You might need fillings for a short time:

• If you need more than one visit for your filling. For example, before putting in a gold filling or a filling made of composite materials.
• After having a root canal done.
• To give your tooth’s nerve a chance to “calm down” if the pulp got hurt.
• If emergency dental treatment is needed (such as to address a toothache).

Temporary fillings are meant to be just that: temporary. Most of the time, they fall out, break, or wear out in a month. Make sure you show up for your appointment to get a permanent filling put in place of the temporary one. If you don’t, you could get an infection in your tooth or have other problems.