The bad news about cavities is that they’re common for patients of all ages, and they can cause significant damage to your healthy tooth structure from the moment they develop. Fortunately, cavities can be stopped early, and often in a highly convenient manner, with the help of a tooth-colored filling. For many patients who experience a cavity, a tooth-colored filling can successfully stop it from causing significant damage to their tooth structure. This also means they can preserve more of their healthy, natural tooth structure and improve the chances of avoiding more serious tooth infection.
What’s a tooth-colored filling?
For the most common types of cavities, tooth fillings are the most frequent type of restorative treatment. These days, tooth fillings are commonly made from biocompatible, tooth-colored composite resin, which is a more discreet and lifelike material than the metal that older tooth fillings are often made from. Given their more natural appearance and their ability to successfully restore a cavity-stricken tooth, tooth-colored fillings are among the most convenient and conservative ways to treat a cavity. They’re also one of the most effective, thanks to the biocompatibility of their composite resin.
How the filling works
The ability to mimic the appearance of a tooth makes tooth-colored fillings more advanced than their predecessors, but they perform the same way tooth fillings were always meant to. The only successful way to treat a cavity is to remove the infection from within it, then fill the cavity to restore the tooth structure that has decayed. The composite resin that tooth-colored fillings are made from doesn’t just look like natural tooth structure, but also interacts with it in a way that makes it highly effective at protecting the tooth from any further infection.
The immediate and short-term benefits
When you place a tooth-colored filling to stop a cavity from growing, you also help preserve the tooth’s future by protecting the healthy, natural structure that remains. The more natural appearance of the filling is an important benefit, but its ability to prevent oral bacteria from entering the cavity again is even more important. Among its many other qualities, tooth-colored composite resin will conform to and retain the shape of your cavity, unlike metal fillings that can change shape over time. This means your filling won’t risk damaging your tooth or leaving the inner part of your cavity exposed to oral bacteria in the future.
Learn more about how to stop a cavity
With a custom, tooth-colored filling, you can successfully stop a cavity from growing worse while also preserving your tooth’s healthy, natural appearance. To learn more, schedule an appointment by calling Allen & Neumann Family Dentistry in Pella, IA, today at (641) 628-1121.