Fillings

Tooth fillings on the Sunshine Coast are used when part of the tooth is lost due to either decay or trauma. Not all dental fillings that are required can be easily seen in the mouth and may require an x-ray to determine if a filling is required. As a dental treatment, they can be an early treatment to tooth decay and are important your overall dental health.

When a tooth filling is to be done, your Sunshine Coast dentist will clean the surfaces to be filled using a handpiece drill and an assortment of solutions before restoring the tooth with a filling.

When it comes to the tooth filling material used, there are a few to choose from. The most common material these days is amalgam or Composite resin. Composite fillings are often referred to as ‘white fillings' or ‘tooth coloured’ fillings as they mimic the colour of natural teeth. In select cases amalgam (silver looking) fillings are still used as are glass-ionomer, gold and temporary material all of which have unique properties and advantages.

If your old silver fillings need to be replaced, we use safe removal techniques such as use of a rubber barrier where possible so that you do not collect any debris in the mouth!

In some instances where a tooth has a very large filling or is cracked, it may require a Ceramic crown or Onlay, which replaces the natural shape of the tooth as it is custom made out of the mouth and lasts much longer.

In most cases a local anaesthetic is used for the cleaning process of a filling but this is completely up to each individual case and patient.