Tooth colored fillings were first introduced to the American public in the mid 1960’s. Since that time tooth colored filling materials have undergone continual improvements in durability,esthetics and material handling. The most versatile and widely used tooth colored filling today is composite resin filling. A composite is a material in which filler particles are encased in and bound together by a hard matrix material. For composite resin fillings a fluid matrix of an acrylic, called BIS­GMA, is hardened around glass filler particles to form composite resin. Trace metals (e.g. cobalt, gold and copper) give color to the glass while zirconium and titanium oxides add opacity.

What are the advantages of tooth color fillings?

• They closely match natural tooth color and appearance.
• They bond to tooth structure chemically and thus do not require the placement of slots,  grooves or pins in healthy tooth structure to mechanically retain them.
• The bonding of white fillings to the tooth restore 85%- 95% of the original strength of the tooth:
• They completely harden in seconds instead of days required by some other materials.
• Tooth sensitivity, if any, due to composite resin use is minimal and brief
• They may be used on front and back teeth without compromising esthetics.
• If damaged they can be repaired.