Aufdemberg Family Dentistry
714-838-3636
draufdemberg@sbcglobal.net
Quick Reference
My silver fillings are wearing out. What should I do?
Everything wears out eventually, and silver fillings are no exception. They have to endure an incredible amount of biting force, and as they age, they wear down and sometimes break.
The edges of this filling have broken away and a space has opened up between the filling and the tooth. When this happens, the filling loses its seal and no longer protects the tooth from decay.
When your dentist recommends a restoration to replace a worn-out filling, both the size of the filling and the amount of remaining tooth structure are considered.
When a worn-out filling is fairly small, you could safely replace it with another silver filling. However, it too will eventually wear out and have to be replaced again. When a worn filling is larger, and less tooth structure remains, tooth fractures become a problem.
In this case the entire front half of the tooth broke away.
By switching to a gold or porcelain onlay or crown, we can strengthen the tooth and prevent the occurance of problems such as this.