Filling Materials: Applications & Health Benefits

A dental filling can repair and restore defective parts of a tooth. Different filling materials are available for this purpose, and they differ in various properties: such as how quickly they harden, how robust they are, and how natural they look.

What are filling materials?

The best-known filling materials are amalgam, metal, ceramic and plastic. They differ primarily in their robustness, in their durability, in their naturalness, and in the time they take to harden. If a tooth is damaged by caries, fracture or other factors, it can often be repaired with a filling thanks to modern dentistry. With the help of dental fillings, for example, holes can be filled or broken parts of the tooth can be reconstructed or repaired. This requires a suitable filling material. In dentistry today, there are a variety of these: the best known are amalgam, metal, ceramic and plastic (also called composite). These are also represented in various compositions. Filling materials differ primarily in their robustness, in their durability, in their naturalness and in the time they take to harden. Today, for example, a large number of materials cure within a few seconds by means of a special UV light. Others dry naturally within hours and harden.

Shapes, types and types

Most filling materials for teeth today are provided with or contain special molecules. The molecules ensure that the material hardens when they are irradiated with a special UV lamp. This eliminates long waiting times after a tooth has been filled. However, there are still fillings today that harden naturally – for example, cementitious fillings that are often used as temporary filling materials. Examples include fillings made of glass ionomer cement or compomer (a cement-plastic mixture). These materials are usually not as robust or durable as a material designed for permanent use. However, this also means that they can be removed or worn down more quickly and are gentler on the tooth substance. Today, however, a distinction is also made between plastic and rigid fillings or inlays. Fillings made of dental materials such as plastic and amalgam belong to the plastic fillings because they can be shaped. Fillings made of a metal or ceramic casting belong to the inlays. The former are filled directly into the tooth in the oral cavity. Inlays are made outside the mouth and are cast onto or into the tooth.

Structure and function

The various filling materials usually consist of compositions specially adapted to dentistry, which on the one hand aim to make the filling material as robust as possible, after all it should preserve the tooth repaired with it for as long as possible. On the other hand, the material mixtures must be as harmless as possible to the body and also to the tooth. In addition, factors such as a natural appearance are now taken into account, even if this is for more aesthetic reasons. However, when choosing a suitable dental filling, we still look at which filling material is most suitable for the damage at hand, because damage cannot always be repaired with every material. Particularly in the case of very large areas to be filled, plastic fillings may not promise the desired hold. Therefore, large-area fillings in the molar region are usually recommended with amalgam. In other cases, however, an amalgam filling may be a worse choice – mostly because it is unsightly. This can be the case in the anterior region, among others. Depending on the type of filling, the tooth must be prepared for the insertion of the filling. To do this, damaged areas must be removed (using a drill). In the case of plastic fillings, the tooth must also be etched away so that a durable and secure bond can be created. Then, as a rule, the filling material is filled in and cured. Rigid inlays, on the other hand, are made and placed outside the mouth.

Medical and health benefits

Dental fillings are used to ensure that they fill and repair a tooth as long and as reliably as possible.The health and medical benefits always depend on the composition of the filling material and the damage to the tooth. In general, they help patients to restore their teeth as strongly as possible and without pain. The composition of filling materials is determined by the medical requirements of the tooth and accordingly serves different medical and/or esthetic purposes. Amalgam, for example, consists of a mixture of mercury and metals: Zinc, silver, copper and tin. Due to the fact that mercury is also contained, amalgam fillings are today often controversial for health reasons. Synthetic fillings, on the other hand, consist of plastic and numerous chemical substances. These substances are used to harden, bond and make the material flexible. As a result, composite fillings are not only more natural compared to amalgam, but often last longer as well. However, they do not always provide the desired hold on large surfaces – even though there are now improved techniques, such as layering the filling. Metal cast fillings are made of materials such as titanium, ceramic, plastic and gold. Titanium and gold alloys in particular are highly resistant to abrasion. In some cases, gold alloys can also be used to create so-called gold hammer fillings, in which the gold is hammered into the tooth in layers. Today, ceramic inlays consist of a ceramic mixture and are probably the most visually natural way to fill teeth. Here, too, the abrasion resistance is very high. To date, however, ceramic as a filling material cannot be easily shaped and inserted directly into the tooth.