Ever wonder what type of filling to get? There has been a lot of controversy over the years about silver fillings vs. tooth colored fillings, so here is the real scoop on the difference to help you make an informed decision before your next dental visit. The following is an excerpt from a recent podcast done by Dr. Valenzi of White Wolf Dental, in Port Orange, FL on this subject, click here to listen to the complete podcast.

Silver Fillings

• Bonding – there is no bond between the silver and your tooth – it is directly applied so there are often problems with leakage. Because of this, silver fillings do not strengthen the tooth at all. Even a successful filling placed years ago will weaken the tooth, so as you’re chewing, cracks will develop around the filling and then one day your tooth may crack off completely. Over time, decay can occur around filling.

• Sensitivity – metal conducts heat and cold so sensitivity can be a real problem

• Aesthetics – no one really likes the look of silver fillings – you want white teeth, not silver or black!

• Toxicity – many are concerned about the fact that mercury is used in silver fillings. About 30% of a silver fillings’ make-up is mercury and mercury is known to cause problems in low doses. But, this is still a debate as the mercury is not directly placed into your bloodstream. The mercury is trapped in that block of metal and the only mercury that gets released is through chewing, but this is a minimal amount. In fact you get more mercury through eating swordfish or tuna, and through the environment then you would through silver fillings.

White fillings

• Bonding – the white fillings actually bond to the teeth and help strengthen the tooth – it doesn’t take it back to its original strength but does restore some strength.

• Sensitivity – there is some concern with sensitivity but at White Wolf Dental, we try to reduce the level of sensitivity even more by placing a liner in the filling, and some other special techniques to create a better seal to reduce the sensitivity to almost nothing.

• Aesthetics – they look great and are barely noticeable

• Toxicity – the make-up of white fillings are extremely complex and it is much more difficult to prove or disprove whether they are toxic or not as they are made up of so many different chemicals. Regardless, unless you have a proven allergy to either of these fillings, neither are toxic enough for the toxicity issue to be a factor when deciding the type of filling to get.

At White Wolf Dental Group, we exclusively do white fillings because of patient choice. People want to look good, want to stay away from the toxicity controversy and just overall tend to avoid them.

If you want to avoid the toxic controversy altogether, you could select another material like:

• Gold – an old restorative material, it wears nicely, is extremely durable, will never fracture, but aesthetically many people stay away from gold. But, it is still a viable option that can be cemented with a mineral bonding agent. Just make sure you don’t have a gold allergy!

• Porcelain – stronger, last longer, but…are cemented with composites so still a tiny bit of potentially “toxic” material

• Extraction – this is an option if you really want to stay away from foreign substances in your mouth, but if you add a bridge or an implant you will still have materials in your mouth

As with many things, there is no single “right” answer, but now that you have the facts you will be able to make the decision that is best for you.

If you want to learn more, listen to the Talk to the Dentist podcast on this subject or contact our office.