What are fillings?
Dental fillings ultimately serve to treat cavities (holes) in teeth. To fill a cavity either an amalgam (which is a silver coloured metal based filling material) or composite (white, tooth coloured synthetic material) is used. Only amalgam fillings are available under the NHS (except for cavities on front teeth). Amalgam fillings are of silver colour and are visible on the teeth. Examples of costs for some types of NHS treatment are available here. Please note that NHS fee structure is complex and varies considerably from patient to patient depending of the treatment required
We also offer tooth coloured white fillings but they are not available under the NHS unless it is used to fill cavities on front teeth. To read more about our white fillings click here.
What is a cavity?
Cavity, or hole in the tooth, is caused by tooth decay. Sometimes you may not even feel this decay as there might not be any pain, however, the cavity can be present and needs to be treated. As cavities become larger and stay untreated they will cause pain and lead to complications such as infection of the root canal which requires root canal treatment or even the removal of the tooth. Filling is used to prevent such complications from occurring by filling the tooth and not allowing bacteria to enter the root system of the tooth.
Our friendly team is always here to help if you have any questions. Discussion appointments are also free at our dental practice and our dentists will be happy to provide you with advice on how to prevent tooth decay.
Our Dentists Can Help
The sooner preventative dentistry is started the better change there is for you to keep your teeth healthy and that they stick with you for life. We advise bringing your children with you to your check-ups even at an early age, as getting used to the environment and noises of the dental practice at an early age can prevent any dental phobia. We offer a special education programme to our little ones called Childsmile, which is free under the NHS and you can read more about it on our dedicated page for Childsmile here.