The Difference Between Direct and Indirect White Fillings

October 31, 2017

If your dentist finds a cavity in one of your teeth and recommends a filling, there are two possible solutions: a direct filling (suitable for small cavities) or an indirect fillings (for moderate decay), which can last up to 30 years. Whatever your dentist recommends, you can receive them as white dental fillings in Whitby.

Direct Fillings

Direct fillings are the more common of the two. If you have had a minor to average-size cavity before, you likely received a direct filling. Most require a single visit to the clinic for fitting. Although direct fillings are available in many materials, including amalgam (silver) and gold, the most popular today are white fillings made from composite resin.

Indirect Fillings

Sometimes, there is insufficient healthy tooth to support a filling. In these cases, you need an indirect filling. Indirect fillings may be inlays, which sit inside the cusps of a tooth, or onlays, which cover one or more cusps in addition to some of the inner tooth. Again, they can be white or tooth-colored.

Indirect fillings demand a procedure that may be different from what you are used to. At the first visit, your dentist will remove the decay from your tooth or the current filling, in the case you need an indirect filling due to the expansion of a cavity. Your dentist will take an impression of your tooth and the teeth around it. This impression will arrive at a dental lab along with the specifications for the color of the filling. At your initial visit, you will also receive a temporary filling.

You will return to the clinic a few days later for your indirect filling. Your dentist will remove the temporary filling and confirm the fit of the indirect filling before cementing the filling in place.

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