What Is Dental Amalgam
Dental amalgam is a dental filling material used to fill cavities caused by tooth decay. It has been used for more than 150 years in hundreds of millions of patients around the world.
Dental amalgam is a mixture of metals, consisting of liquid (elemental) mercury and a powdered alloy composed of silver, tin, and copper. Approximately 50% of dental amalgam is elemental mercury by weight. The chemical properties of elemental mercury allow it to react with and bind together the silver/copper/tin alloy particles to form an amalgam.
Dental amalgam fillings are also known as “silver fillings” because of their silver-like appearance. Despite the name, "silver fillings" do contain elemental mercury.
Composite Resin Fillings
Another material that can be used to fill cavities caused by dental decay is composite resin filling. Composite resin fillings are the most common alternative to dental amalgam. They are sometimes called “tooth-colored” or “white” fillings because of their color. Composite resin fillings are made of a type of plastic (an acrylic resin) reinforced with powdered glass filler. The color (shade) of composite resins can be customized to closely match surrounding teeth. Composite resin fillings are often light cured by a “blue-light” in layers to build up the final restoration.
Advantages of composite resin fillings include:
- Blend in with surrounding teeth
- High strength
- Require minimal removal of healthy tooth structure for placement
Disadvantages of composite resin fillings include:
- More difficult to place than dental amalgam
- May be less durable than dental amalgam and may need to be replaced more frequently
- Higher cost of placement
CROWNS
A crown is a tooth-shaped covering above the gum line over an existing tooth. You may need a crown to:
- make a decayed, root canalled or broken weak tooth stronger,
- make a tooth look better and last longer,
- align a misshapen tooth
Description
Getting a dental crown usually involves two visits. At the first visit, old restorations or decay is removed and tooth prepared for the crown and a temporary crown is placed on the tooth until the next visit when the permanent crown can be fitted and placed on the prepared tooth.
After the permanent crown is installed, it can take a few days to get used to the new crown in your mouth and it should feel fine. However, if your bite does not feel comfortable, the crown may need to be adjusted. If you have any questions after your permanent crown has been installed, you should contact your dentist.
How Do I Care For My Crown
You care for your crown just as you would your natural teeth. The crown itself cannot decay, but decay and gum disease can start where the edge of the crown joins the tooth.
Veneers
Veneers are considered a conservative solution for patients requiring improvement of the shape, color, or position of their anterior teeth. Ceramic veneers have been extensively and successfully used to mask intrinsic staining, to give the appearance of straightening, and to correct minor malformations of anterior teeth without the removal of substantial amounts of sound tooth substance.
Veneers are a well-established treatment method for conservative esthetic restoration of malformed, discolored, misaligned, traumatized, fractured, and worn anterior teeth.
Root Canal
Root canal therapy is a treatment used to repair and save a tooth that is deeply decayed or has been injured by trauma, large fillings, or has cracks and chips. Symptoms of an infection include visible injury or swelling of the tooth, sensitivity to temperature or pain in the tooth and gums.
The tooth structure includes white enamel, dentin, and soft tissue called the pulp. The pulp contains blood vessels, nerves and connective tissue Root canal therapy is needed when the pulp becomes infected or damaged. During root canal therapy, the pulp is removed, and the inside of the tooth is cleaned and sealed. After root canal treatment, the tooth is restored with a crown or filling for protection.
Full Mouth Reconstruction
In general, full mouth reconstruction is the process of rebuilding or simultaneous restoration that affects all of the teeth in the mouth.
The dental treatments involved can include onlay, crowns, bridges, veneers, dental implants, orthodontic appliances and/or dentures. To achieve the best possible results, some patients, may require orthodontics treatment as well.
The aim of full mouth reconstruction is to restore structure, function and esthetics of your teeth.
Full Or Partial Dentures
A partial denture is an appliance used to replace missing teeth with false teeth when there are one or more teeth remaining.
Full Dentures are designed to replace all of the teeth of the upper jaw or the lower jaw or both when no teeth are remaining.
There are several types of dentures:
- partials dentures with metal clasps
- Acrylic flesh colored partial dentures
- partial dentures with precision attachments
- flexible partial dentures
- Acrylic flesh colored full denture
- Implant supported partial or full denture
Benefits of dentures:
- Remove your cheeks and lips from having a ‘sunken’ appearance
- Help improve your smile
- Improve chewing if there were many missing teeth
- Help remove the strain on your remaining teeth
