Smile Gallery LA

Non-metal Fillings

Until recently, dental patients have been told that repairing teeth with white fillings was just for cosmetic purposes, and white fillings may not be as durable as the metal restorations. This philosophy is now passé. With the modern technologies of dental adhesion, resins, lasers and state-of-art ceramics, the new porcelain restorations are close to rivaling nature in strength, wear, function and appearance. There are now sixteen-year studies showing that with properly administered technique, these advanced restorations surpass traditional dentistry. With these new materials, it is possible to bond teeth back together, virtually restoring them back to their virgin strength without the invasiveness of full-coverage crowns. In the majority of circumstances, metal fillings or crowns can be replaced with techniques that are more conservative. It is therefore possible to preserve the healthy, remaining tooth structure, rather than whittling teeth down, as a pencil would be ground away by a pencil sharpener.