Tooth-colored fillings that look like your own tooth.

We use composite resin for nearly all our fillings. The material bonds directly to the tooth, which means we can be conservative about how much healthy tooth we remove — very different from older silver amalgam fillings, which required cutting away more healthy structure to hold them in place.

Most fillings are placed in a single 30 to 45 minute appointment. We numb the area, gently remove the decay, clean and prepare the cavity, place the composite in layers, and harden each layer with a curing light. The final shaping is done before you leave so your bite feels right immediately.

Composite fillings typically last seven to ten years or longer with normal wear. Larger fillings — especially on chewing surfaces — eventually need to be replaced or upgraded to an inlay, onlay, or crown if too much tooth structure is involved.

If you have older silver fillings that have started to break down, we can discuss replacing them with composite. We don’t replace amalgam fillings just because they’re silver; if yours are intact and the tooth looks healthy, we leave them alone.