Restorative Dentistry

For those concerned about having any metal in their mouth, it is now common to have a well-restored dentition with no metal at all. Most clients prefer to have all tooth-coloured restorations. At Future Dental, we never place amalgam fillings.

Much controversy surrounds the use of dental amalgam fillings because of the perceived harmful effects of mercury. We do not concur with that belief but totally agree with the practice of removal of amalgams under certain circumstances, although for different reasons. Amalgam is a robust filling material which can last for many decades. However, having worked continuously using high power magnification for nearly 30 years, we have made some close observations as to the damage amalgam fillings commonly cause. As the metallic filling has a tendency to expand and contract under temperature changes at a different rate to your tooth structure as you eat and drink, stresses are set up in your teeth. The result is frequent cracks in your teeth, fracture of affected cusps, and a painful condition called Cracked Tooth Syndrome. If you grind or clench your teeth, you are more vulnerable to this problem.

Because of the inherent ability of amalgam to cause tooth fracture, we have found that amalgam fillings are the highest individual cause of the need to crown or root-canal teeth.

We do not offer amalgam fillings at all for the above reasons, and also that we find that the clients who seek out our practice generally prefer not to have them at all.

Whilst we do not offer amalgam in any circumstances, if you already have amalgam fillings in your teeth, they are unlikely to cause you any problems until you reach your mid-thirties. Younger teeth retain their natural resiliency which resists fracture. Once you reach your mid-thirties, you are at significantly greater risk of tooth fracture due to amalgam fillings. As such, we do recommend the routine removal of amalgam fillings as a preventative procedure.

So what are the replacement alternatives? In general, for clients with good oral hygiene and low current decay activity, we use composite resin tooth-coloured fillings to replace smaller amalgams. For large amalgam fillings which leave thin unsupported tooth structure, often crowns are the best solution.