Composite Dental Fillings Offer Superior Aesthetics and Oral Health Benefits

Dental fillings are the most common treatment for cavities. They can preserve your damaged teeth and prevent the need for more intensive restorative treatments, such as root canal therapy or tooth extraction. Fairfax​ ​Family​ ​Dental​ ​Care​ ​uses state-of-the-art digital x-rays ​to​ ​detect​ ​cavities​ ​in​ ​an​ ​accurate​ ​and efficient​ ​manner. That way, Dr. Charles D. Kirksey, Dr. Milan Simanek, or Dr. Touraj Kamali can diagnose decay before it damages the entirety of your tooth. Furthermore, at our Fairfax, VA, office, we proudly place tooth-colored fillings made from high-quality composite resin. This material offers important benefits, both for your appearance and for your long-term dental health.

What Are Dental Fillings?

Dental fillings are intended to repair minor to moderate cavities. The material will strengthen your tooth by fortifying the weakened tissue. Your dentist will clean your tooth when placing the filling, removing bacteria and preventing the spread of decay. Then the restoration itself will seal your tooth to prevent microbes from getting back inside.

Sometimes, a cavity will cause noticeable symptoms, such as a toothache or dental sensitivity. In many cases, however, you will not feel any discomfort until the decay has spread. To diagnose cavities, we will typically take x-rays at every other exam. Doing so allows us to detect decay while it is still localized. However, if you do not attend regular visits, or if the cavity has destroyed most of your tooth, a filling will generally not be sufficient. In these cases, we may recommend a crown, root canal therapy, or, in severe cases, extraction.

Why Tooth-Colored Fillings?

We choose to provide composite fillings, rather than traditional silver amalgam restorations. Composite offers several important benefits:

• It comes in a range of colors, and your dentist can find a shade that is nearly identical to your to the color of your natural teeth. Therefore, unlike metal, it will not show through your tooth or affect the look of your grin.
• Composite resin will bond with your dental tissue more securely than metal, effectively fortifying your damaged tooth.
• Composite fillings require less prep work and less removal of dental tissue.
• While metal expands and contracts in response to temperature fluctuations, composite is a stable material. Thus, it will not weaken your tooth over time.
• Unlike silver amalgam, composite does not contain mercury, a substance with numerous health concerns for patients with metal sensitivities.

We proudly place tooth-colored fillings made from high-quality composite resin. This material offers important benefits, both for your appearance and for your long-term dental health.

What Can You Expect When You Receive Fillings?

Before placing a filling, your dentist will clean out the damaged tooth, removing decayed tissue and bacteria. This step will also provide a stronger bonding surface for the composite. Your tooth and the surrounding gum tissue will be numb, so you will  feel virtually nothing. After choosing a color of composite that corresponds with the shade of your tooth, your dentist will place the material in the cavity. He will apply it in layers, hardening each layer with a special curing light. Once the entire cavity has been filled, your practitioner will polish the surface of your tooth so that the filling has a natural shine and does not interfere with the force of your bite.

Contact Us to Restore and Protect Your Smile

If you are suffering from the painful symptoms of a cavity, timely treatment can save your tooth and overall dental health. Contact our office online to schedule an exam or the important restorative care you need. You can also book an appointment by calling (703) 385-0303.