Now You See Them. Now You Don’t.
Doesn’t that sound like a term for something that had been left for dead out in the desert in an old spaghetti western? Or maybe a term from a Michigan State volleyball game.
You may actually know that word by another term, cavity. Caries is the clinical dental term for decay in a tooth. Who knows why it sounds like a plural! Caries is the most common form of oral disease known to man.
When you call them cavities, that’s not really accurate. When decay gets into a tooth, the decayed portion needs to be removed to stop the tooth degradation. What is left after the decay is removed is a cavity. That’s probably where the term originated. But the cavity/space now needs to be filled.
Wait for it…
Filling. Ah, so that’s where that term comes from.
Dr. Egger removes dental caries and fills those teeth every day. More and more, he is doing it with composite resin fillings. These are commonly known as tooth-colored fillings. Here’s why we’re using less and less of those old silver fillings you’ve known forever at Dr. Egger’s.
Mercury in your mouth
Most people think the silver fillings in their molars are, well, made of silver. Actually, they’re not silver; they consist of mostly mercury! More and more people now believe mercury belongs under the dirt in an abandoned auto plant in Flint, not their mouths! Silver fillings are made of silver amalgam. To make them, dentists mix mercury (50% of the eventual filling) with a powder comprised of silver, copper, tin, or zinc (usually a combination of some or all of those). There really isn’t any potential for harm from the mercury in your amalgam fillings. They’ve been studied by the FDA and they’ve been used since the 1800s. Still, some people don’t like the idea of being like a fish at the bottom of Lake Erie.
Disadvantages of amalgam fillings
Of course, silver amalgam fillings aren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing. Open your mouth and everyone can usually see just how many fillings you have in your molars. Amalgam fillings have other drawbacks, as well. The edges of the filling can wear down, become weak, or break. This creates an environment where decay can take hold again. Also, with age the mercury, silver, and other metals in amalgam fillings expand and contract. This can make the filling split, or it can even crack a tooth. Plus, they can corrode, leak, and stain your adjacent teeth and your gums.
Tooth-colored restorations
That’s why Dr. Egger is placing more and more composite resin fillings at his Mount Pleasant practice. The resin is made of a mixture of plastic and glass and it is bonded to the teeth in layers, making them structurally strong. Plus they create a tight, superior fit to the tooth. And, unlike amalgam fillings, where a part of the healthy tooth needs to be removed to make room for the filling, Resin composite fillings can be placed into teeth that have lost much of their tooth structure.
The problem with resin fillings has always been durability. They just haven’t been as durable as silver amalgam. But that has been changing rapidly. Each year, technological improvements have been making composite resin stronger and more durable. It now is very close to the durability of amalgam.
Have a tooth that seems to becoming more and more sensitive? Call Dr. Egger at (989) 773-3560 because that tooth may need a filling.