Tooth Fillings

What Are Tooth Fillings Made Of - Things About Tooth Filling You Never Knew 

 Tooth fillings have been an ancient type of dental treatment, although it have been developed and procedure have been made more advanced in the mean time.

In layman term it is called as tooth filling but in dental terminology it is called as dental restoration; It tells us about the objective of the procedure, The objective is to remove the decay and then restore the functional as well as aesthetic requirements of the tooth.

Let's see what type of materials are been used for the filling of the tooth. I'm listing the filing materials in chronological manner from oldest to newest.

Direct filling Gold- gold is the only type of restoration which i used in pure metal form. It is used
to fill small cavities and it is claimed to be most long standing and permanent type of filling. 24 carats pure gold is used for filling the cavities.

It comes in different forms like Gold pallets, Gold foils, Powdered gold. It is outdated due to it's high cost and technique sensitiveness .

Dental Amalgam- (Silver filling)- Dental amalgam alloy is a type of filling material in which two or
more metals are mixed together to form a solid stable restoration, Mercury in liquid form and Silver powder in solid form is is used. Silver powder with other alloys(Tin, Copper, Zinc) is collectively called a silver amalgam alloy.

Dentist will remove the decay and prepare a desired  shape of the cavity to accept the restoration. Then mercury and silver amalgam powder are mixed with the procedure called as Trituration. A soft mass is developed and condensed in the cavity.

Dental Cements-  Lots of dental cements have been developed by the time and they have been used of various purposes in dentistry like Temporary filling, Permanent filling and for fixing the crowns and bridge. I am listing some selected dental cements although n numbers of cements are available.

Zinc Oxide Eugenol- Used for Temporary restoration, Used as thermal insulating base under
metal  restoration, Pulp capping, Cavity Liner, Root canal sealant, surgical dressing.


Zinc Phosphate Cement-Luting(sticking) agent for restorations, Intermediate restoration, Insulating base bellow metal restoration.   [picture not given]

Glass ionomer- one of the most popular dental cements in present world. White in color and
comes in different shades, contains fluoride and have excellent tooth bonding capacity, high strength and wear resistance have made it a good posterior and well as anterior restoration material.




Composite Resin- This is one of the cutting edge technology in which more then one kind of materials are mixed together to make a composite which is superior in quality then both of the parent materials.

Dental composite is used for cosmetic fillings, bonding and restoration of chipped tooth, and a core in post and core build up.

The list of dental filling materials is endless so I have mentioned some popular materials.