ESTHETIC COMPOSITE FILLINGS
Why does caries occur?
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97% of tooth enamel is formed by calcium hydroxyapatite crystals. Enamel is the hardest substance in our body and its role is to protect the underlaying dentin. Caries (dental decay) is caused by bacteria that feeds on sugars remaining in our mouth as a residue of ingested food and drink, forming acids. In the presence of these acids, enamel demineralisation occurs, which means that the enamel crystals begin to melt, so that enamel becomes porous and loses its protective role. When the decay expands into the dentin, it proceeds very quickly and soon reaches the tooth nerve. In the initial stages, you may feel sensitivity to cold or sweet and the pain increases proportionally as the decay approaches the nerve. At this stage, the tooth can be rescued by removing the decay and replacing the missing part with a dental filling.
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Our goal is always to discover dental decay as early as possible in the most initial stage when the damage is relatively small.
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Making an esthetic composite filling requires time, knoledge and good manual skills.
How do we do it?
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MINIMAL-INVASIVE
We work respecting the minimally invasive principle, which means that minimal dental structures are removed, only what is necessary and we tend to preserve tooth tissue as much as possible.
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We strongly advise against amalgam fillings and ensure their safe replacement with composit ones.
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USING THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE
Most composites require building up in up to 2mm thick layers. This is the maximum thickness that most polymerization lights do lightcure. The greater the quantity of the composite portion placed at a time, the greater the shrinkage, consequently the greater the risk of bite pain afterwards, which can be very unpleasant and may persevere several weeks or months.
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ESTHETICS
We use several different colors of highly aesthetic composite. We usually combine dentin shade as a base, and a transparent shades composite to replace the missing enamel. It is also possible to create certain special features (if present on other teeth), such as small enamel cracks, white spots, colored fissures, etc. These "irregularities" contribute much for the filling to fuse with the remaining tooth tissue and become “invisible”.