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Composite Fillings

Composite Fillings

Fillings are used to restore areas of your tooth affected by decay. At Auburn Family Dental, Dr. Durflinger uses a composite (tooth colored) material to “fill in” the surface of the tooth after all the decay has been removed. Dr. Durflinger uses a contemporary direct composite system. She creates an anterior composite restoration that mimics the beauty of natural tooth structure, replicating the natural tooth morphology and luster of the restoration. 

Reasons for FillingsComposite Fillings in Auburn

  • Restoring small to medium sized cavities
  • Restoring a chipped anterior (front) tooth  

What does a Filling Involve? 

First, Dr. Durflinger will answer any questions you have before applying anesthetic to the tooth requiring a filling. Then your Auburn dentist will thoroughly remove the decay and prepare the tooth for the composite filling. Sometimes multiple colors are used to create a seamless filling that matches your tooth’s existing color. Dr. Durflinger specializes in creating life like restorations that disappear among the natural tooth surface.  

What are Composite Fillings? 

Composite fillings are tooth –colored to blend in with the remaining natural part of the tooth. The term composite refers to the actual filling material, which is a mixture of glass or quartz filling in a resin medium. 

What are the Advantages of Composite Fillings? 

Composite fillings provide good durability and resistance to a fracture in small-to –mid size restorations that need to withstand moderate chewing pressure. In addition to being more aesthetically pleasing, composite fillings are “bonded” or attached with adhesive directly to the tooth surface. This often allows for a more conservative repair than traditional fillings with their inability to bond to the tooth structure. Since traditional fillings do not bond to the tooth, amalgam is packed into the tooth, and it may loosen over time. Amalgam fillings often require that more tooth structure is removed to create a space that will hold the filling in place. That is one reason here at Auburn Family Dental we elect not to use amalgam fillings. We want to do as much minimally invasive dentistry with as possible.