Mead Square Smiles uses the latest methods for fillings. We use the white, often known as composite, fillings for all of our patients. Research has shownthat silver (amalgam) fillings release a constant level of mercury into your blood stream during the lifetime of the silver filling.  Composite fillings offer a safer alternative. With every filling you automatically receive a 3-year limited guarantee. If the filling or missing part of the tooth is greater than the tooth remaining in the mouth, you need a crown.

Crowns

Crowns are used to cover the part of the tooth that was destroyed by decay or broken. In general (but not always) crowns are used when 50% or more of a tooth is missing, or when the tooth had a root canal. After numbing the area, we remove the decayed part of the tooth and start the restorative phase. We build the tooth with a material that creates a protective anti-decay layer and releases a small amount of fluoride. This is then shaped to an appropriate shape for impression and temporary crown. We use the Two Visit process of making crowns. We have better results compared to crowns made in one visit to the office. We use a laboratory technician right here in Victor who has 15 years of experience.  With every crown you get a 3 year limited guarantee.

Inlay / Onlay

When one of the back teeth is broken, but there is still a lot of tooth structure left for anchoring a filling, we may choose to make an inlay or onlay. This is a lab fabricated filling in or on the tooth, which has many of the same properties as a full crown, but is less traumatic for the tooth and saves a lot of a tooth’s structure. Fillings and inlays share many of the same properties but it would be unfair to say they are the same.  Depending on the situation, one is more appropriate to use than the other.