Fillings: An Evolution to Stronger, Better-Looking Teeth

The filling: It’s the dental process for repairing a tooth that’s been damaged by decay, cracking, breaking or excess wear. It’s also one of the most common dental procedures for patients in Oswego, Yorkville, Boulder Hill, Plainfield, Montgomery, Aurora and North Aurora (IL). The goal of a filling is to restore the tooth’s appearance and function while helping prevent future decay.

Those of us who had to get a tooth filling a few decades ago likely remember the experience. We went to the dentist’s office, sat back in the chair, received the local anesthetic like a champ (or not) and listened to the drill as it prepared the tooth for the silver amalgam, which included mercury as well. Some of us also may have had a tooth filling of gold rather than silver.

Much has changed since then with the rapid, steady advance of dental technology. Most fillings today can be achieved with less drilling, better materials and greater results.

Regardless of whether we received a filling in 1983 or 2023, we all can appreciate how far we’ve come with the procedure and science.

Tooth Fillings: A Quick History

Tooth fillings date back to ancient times. The earliest known example was a young man with beeswax fillings found in a cave in Trieste, Italy, a discovery estimated to be more than 6,000 years old.

The following are more notable events in the long and storied history of tooth fillings:

Circa 200 A.D.: The Etruscans of Italy reportedly used dental prosthetics, including gold crowns.

700 A.D.: A Chinese medical text described the use of “silver paste” as an amalgam, leading some to believe the Chinese may have been using silver dental amalgams at that time.

1530: The first known book devoted to dentistry that included a discussion of any history of dental fillings was published in Germany. It addressed subjects such as tooth extraction, tooth drilling and placing gold fillings. The book was written mainly for barbers in addition to surgeons. Until our recent era, many people could not afford to see a dental professional, so they visited barbers for tooth extractions and fillings in addition to a haircut.

1746: A Parisian surgeon and dentist name Claude Mouton described procedures including gold crowns and recommended using white enamel to make gold crowns appear more like natural teeth.

1789: Another Frenchman named Nicolas Dubois de Cheman received the first known patent for porcelain teeth.

1819: A mercury-based dental amalgam filling was invented by the English chemist Jacob Bell.

1826: The dental amalgam mercury filling was first used in England and France.

1830: The mercury fillings were used in the U.S.

You can easily glean the amount of time, study, effort and challenges that preceded what we now know as modern dentistry, which is only about 150 years old.

Tooth Fillings Today

The need for tooth fillings remains consistent and obvious in the 2020s. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 90% of adults 20 years and older have had at least one cavity. More than half (57%) of adolescents 12 to 19 have had a cavity in their permanent teeth as well.

The main cause of many cavities is the amount of sugar in the daily diet. Eating sugar forms plaque on the teeth. If the plaque is not contained or removed with regular brushing and flossing, the plaque turns carbohydrates into acids that then promote tooth decay.

Some common indicators of the onset of tooth decay are increasing tooth sensitivity, pain in chewing and sharp pain when eating hot and cold foods.

What matters most today is having access to dental care with the resources to locate any decay and correct it with the least amount of intrusion and discomfort. The ability to form the filling with the proper material for the greatest function, strength and appearance is vital as well.

Tooth Fillings: Current Technology

At Oswego Dental Group, we no longer use traditional x-rays to locate decay. New technology lets us digitize dental images so we can view them on a computer screen instead of on a tiny film.

Where traditional x-rays degrade and lose their quality over time, digital x-rays can be stored in a computer server and remain unchanged with time. They further can be enhanced, similar to how you would touch up a digital-camera photo.

Digital x-rays also require only a fraction of the already low amount of radiation needed for traditional x-rays.

In some cases we might also use new intraoral cameras for detecting certain types of tooth decay. The cameras apply a filtered LED light to illuminate decay by making it fluoresce. This can often reveal a small cavity starting in surface enamel – something traditional x-rays can’t do.

Yet another notable resource is a diagnostic laser for identifying tooth decay that in the past would have been undetectable. As the laser illuminates the tooth’s small grooves and crevices, it measures the light reflected inside the tooth. It can then read the reflected light to tell us if a suspicious-looking tooth has a simple stain or a genuine cavity needing treatment.

Tooth Fillings: Materials & Procedure

Advancements in modern dentistry allow us to include biocompatible and natural-looking materials in restoring and maintaining healthy teeth for our patients from Oswego, Yorkville, Boulder Hill, Plainfield, Montgomery, Aurora and North Aurora.

Should you need to fill a cavity, the material used will typically depend on the type and location of the tooth, the extent of the tooth decay and any allergies to filling materials.

Filling materials in 2024 typically include four types:

Silver amalgam. These cavity fillings are made of about 50% mercury in addition to silver, tin and copper. They are very strong, making them desirable for less-visible stress-bearing surfaces such the enamel of a molar. Silver amalgam is the least expensive filling material.

Gold. Gold fillings are customized in a lab and then applied and shaped into place in the tooth in our office. Gold fillings are very strong and usually well tolerated by surrounding gum tissue.

Porcelain. Referred to as inlays or onlays, porcelain fillings typically cover most of the tooth. Custom-formed in a lab and then bonded to the tooth, they are made to match the tooth color and resist staining.

Composite resin. A blend of polymer resin and powdered glass, composite resin fillings are currently used to restore most teeth, especially front ones. Beyond being mercury-free, they are shaded to match the natural tooth color. Their look that blends seamlessly with other teeth makes them very popular.

While different variables may determine the approach, the following are the general steps you might expect for a tooth filling at Oswego Dental Group.

Anesthetic. If the decay has moved farther into the tooth, we will administer a local anesthetic to numb the area around the tooth. If the cavity is tiny or the decay has barely impacted the tooth, a filling might not require an anesthetic, depending on your choice.

Decay removal. With the anesthetic in effect, your Oswego Dental Group dentist will remove the decay from the tooth, typically with a dental handpiece, an air-abrasion instrument or a laser. Next, we’ll clean the empty space and ensure the hole is the right size and shape to secure your filling material.

Material other than silver amalgam: For a gold or porcelain filling, we will obtain a mold or digital impression of the tooth and forward it to our lab. We also will place a temporary filling for the tooth while the gold or porcelain filling is being created. When the filling is ready – usually a few weeks later – we will have you back to the office to cement it.

For a composite resin filling, we’ll etch the tooth surface with a cleaning agent and then apply a thin layer of the bonding agent. After pressing and shaping the composite material, we’ll complete the filling by hardening the material and the bonding agent with a curing light.

Shaping and polishing. We’ll further refine the set filling’s shape to resemble the original tooth. If the filling is on a biting surface, we will have you bite down on marking paper to ensure a proper fit. The marks left by the teeth will show us how the new filling contacts the other teeth. If needed, we will make further small refinements and then polish the filling.

Tooth Cavity Treatment: Contact Us Today

Oswego Dental Group serves Oswego, Yorkville, Boulder Hill, Plainfield, Montgomery, Aurora and North Aurora (IL) with professional tooth fillings that restore function, strength and aesthetic appeal. We also add to your convenience with shorter office visits, attentive communication and easy appointment scheduling. To find out more about our tooth cavity treatment or make an appointment, contact us at (630) 554-8600 or complete and send our contact form.

References

All About Dental Fillings and How They Have Changed Over The Years
A Brief History of Amalgams
How Fillings Have Changed Over the Years
10 Unknown Fun Facts About Dental Fillings and Cavities
Cavities (cdc.gov)