Watford Smiles
Dental Filling Services
Whether it is due to an accident or tooth decay, damage to a tooth needs to be repaired as soon as possible to avoid further damage or even the need to extract. One popular option for repair is a dental filling.
A dental filling is when the damaged or decayed tooth is cleaned and replaced with a material to help re-create the shape of the tooth. The material can be tooth coloured resin (composite or porcelain) or silver coloured (amalgam). Silver coloured fillings are visible and many people choose to replace these with tooth coloured material instead.
Porcelain fillings are known as inlays or onlays. When a tooth is cracked, or an existing large filling needs replacing than this is the ideal way to fill a tooth. This is more minimally invasive than a crown (which involves grinding the tooth further). At Watford Smiles we prefer to keep your teeth intact and fill where necessary. The process is done in one or two visits:
One Visit
One visit porcelain fillings involves removing the damaged or unhealthy part of the tooth. We prepare the tooth and take a digital impression using our digital scanner. Whilst you wait, we will create your beautiful filling to fit your tooth exactly and you can even see it being made with our milling unit. Once complete, we bond in place to recreate your tooth.
Two Visit
Two visit porcelain fillings involves the same process but instead of us making the inlay or onlay we send an impression or digital impression to our experienced lab technician who creates the crown. This way may be needed depending on what we would like to achieve and takes up to two weeks to complete.