A patient came to Time Dental looking for a cosmetic dentist and to provide dental care to ensure a healthy mouth. They had looked us up on Google and had read our reviews. She had not been to a dentist for a while and was looking to replace some of her old amalgam fillings.
On assessing her mouth she had a range of size of amalgam mercury fillings. The larger amalgams also had cracks running down the side of the teeth. Mercury fillings actually weaken your teeth. On placement of the mercury fillings the tooth is often over prepared to help lock the filling into place. Over time mercury amalgam fillings expand and contract. Combined with the forces on chewing this can result in cracks occurring within the tooth. The cracks then propagate and the result is either the tooth breaking, the filling breaking, or decay as a result of the cracks.
When amalgam fillings are at a certain size the cusps of the teeth are often the first to the at risk of breaking. This is when onlays are recommended to protect the weaker cusps. Crowns cover and protect the whole tooth by encapsulating it, onlays are lab made restorations that cover the biting surface of the tooth. There are several advantages of onlays; the edges are high up on the tooth which allow you to keep the tooth plaque free; they can be made of ceramic which makes it very strong; they last longer than direct composite fillings; and they cover and protect the biting surface of the tooth.
Time Dental provides the service for patients in the Farnborough area as well as the surrounding areas in Hampshire, Surrey, West sussex and Berkshire.
Time Dental- private dental care at its best
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by Dental DesignSite last updated: September 2024
