Seamless White Fillings

November 7th, 2011 by admin

The Journey of Fillings:

From Silver/Mercury to White to Tooth-Colored Seamless

Our patients deserve the best. Do we all agree? What is the best? Has the best continued to evolve? Dental amalgam (silver + mercury) was introduced to the US in 1833 by the Crawcour brothers who hailed from France. This material was used extensively, but has seen a very sharp decline. The reasons for this are numerous – the primary one being appearance. Today’s patient is greatly interested in fillings and repair which appear more natural and life-like.

For us dentists, moving away from silver mercury fillings brings strong advantages. In my opinion, the primary one being much, much less removal of natural tooth structure. In my years of practice, I have treated many failing amalgams. More often than not, the treatment was root canals, posts, and crowns.

Dr. Henry Takei, a highly esteemed professor at UCLA maintains that the more dentistry we do, the more failures we will expose ourselves and our patients to. As our thought process evolves to minimally invasive, we have the luxury of methods and materials which were not as good as they are now. We started filling teeth with white or tooth-colored fillings.

As our understanding of such techniques grows, we have now started doing seamless fillings. Simply stated, these are fillings with margins blending into tooth structure to create the same optical effects the virgin tooth displayed. Seamless fillings require better knowledge and techniques. They are technique-sensitive, but produce an effect which leaves my patient and myself delighted.

It is all about human dignity. No part of the human dentition should draw subconscious or conscious attention by causing visual tension. The seamless technique is critical when restoring front teeth. We do not want a filling showing a margin. I credit this technique to my teachers at UCLA. On behalf of my patients, I thank Dr. Brian LeSage of Beverly Hills and Dr. Jimmy Eubank of Plano, Texas. Both these gentlemen are incredible artisans; dentistry is proud of them. These doctors have modified and enhanced the existing methodology to produce fillings which are next to nature. The drawback is that seamless fillings are more time-consuming and labor-intensive, thereby being more expensive than your ordinary white filling.