Which materials are suitable for a cervical filling?

Various types of dental materials and fillers are available for cervical filling. In the past, cement or amalgam fillings were used for cervical treatment. However, these filling materials have been abandoned due to health risks (amalgam fillings) and short-term durability (cement), although these are still the standard treatments according to health insurance companies today (2017).

See above under “Costs of a neck filling”. Cements are nowadays only used as temporary fillings. (Example: If the patient wants to bleach his teeth (bleaching), but the filling is to be made now, then cement is the best temporary solution, because plastic cannot be bleached.

So after the bleaching the cement filling is removed and the composite color is selected according to the current bleached tooth color and is used instead of cement). In order to achieve long-term durability and good esthetic result, composites are used as filling material nowadays. Composites are special synthetic materials mixed with filling substances.

Composites, unlike amalgam fillings, are applied and modelled in several layers by hand. In the meantime, the layers are cured using a UV lamp (multi-layer technique). The larger the defect in the area of the neck of the tooth, the more layers are necessary.

The shrinkage of the composite material is reduced by applying several layers and curing the composite layers in the meantime with the aid of a UV lamp. Thus, a very good fit and tightness between the tooth/tooth neck and the composite filling can be achieved. Besides the good durability, the composite filling convinces with a very good aesthetic result. Whereas plastic fillings used to be prone to discoloration over time due to tea or coffee, this is no longer the case with today’s modern composites. A prerequisite for the long durability of a correctly placed composite filling is good oral hygiene of the patient.

When is a neck filling necessary?

The reasons for using a cervical filling can be many and varied:

Caries is often responsible for “holes” in the tooth or tooth neck.
Also a high sensitivity to pain in the area of the exposed tooth necks can make a neck filling (which in this case acts more like a sealing of the tooth neck) necessary.
Brushing trauma: Very often, an incorrect tooth brushing technique causes the so-called “wedge-shaped defects”. These are areas of missing tooth substance, which are not caused by caries but by mechanical abrasion, by “scrubbing” back and forth with bristles that are too hard and with too much pressure on the tooth neck.
Periodontitis or gingivitis: When the gums retract due to inflammation, the necks of the teeth are exposed and are sensitive to external stimuli (food acids, bacteria or incorrect brushing).
Bruxism: The grinding of teeth, especially at night to compensate for stress, leads to the removal of tooth substance. Depending on the bite and how long the patient has been “grinding and pressing”, substance defects also occur at the neck of the tooth, which must be treated.
In addition to these factors, general illnesses such as reflux or heartburn, as well as excessive consumption of nicotine and caffeine, can make a neck filling necessary.