Hi guys, this is Dr. Jolvin Lee from Tooth Heaven, I'm here to talk about everything in dentistry today. And today we're just gonna talk about, touch on the types of common materials you use in dentistry. Now I'm not going to go through everything and anything we do in dentistry, but I'm just gonna touch on the main thing today, which are fillings.
Now, there are two types of fillings in general. There are white fillings and there are metal fillings.
With metal fillings, I suppose, you know, what are they? Look, they are metal, and they're generally made out of different materials. And back in those days, it used to be gold, although, of course we don't do gold now because gold's a bit, just a little bit more expensive.
But we do have metal fillings, they're made out of silver. And silver, obviously it's not just pure silver, it's got alloys in there to make it stronger.
Now, I guess, what's the good thing of metal is that it's been around, and it's proven to last. Whoa, oh, well, oh, geez, it does tend to last. You know, in my parents' days, even my parents' parents' days, you know, they already had metal fillings.
But I guess the downside is that because metal is so sturdy and strong, it also tends to expand and contract, just like any metal would. And if you're eating food three times a day, or sometimes even more, some people, you know, with hot and cold, hot and cold all the time, if you pop something like that into a rigid thing like a tooth, it will crack teeth around it.
Now, why is that a problem? Well, it is a big problem because if you think about it, cracks are kind of like chips or cracks in the wind screen, and if you drive over humps and bumps, turn over corners and this and that, the cracks would get bigger and bigger and bigger, and one day it's gonna split right across, and that's it. You can say sayonara onto the tooth there. So yes, we do not like cracks and we try to avoid cracks at all costs.
Now another problem with metal is that there's the argument that metal contains mercury in there. It's a little bit controversial with this topic and it's not proven as of yet that metal fillings do cause toxicity to the body. But there's the argument then, if you have the metal filling in the mouth does it slowly leach out mercury? And then cause you to slowly, you know, not get as healthy.
Now I suppose, you know, the question is, why would you use metal if there are better products out there like white fillings?
Now with white fillings, what is a white filling? White fillings consist of, they're basically made of resin with little particles in there.
- And then, you know, they've got microparticles, nanoparticles, and there are nanohybrids as well.
- And I'm not gonna bore you with all the data and all the materials, all the numbers there.
- And look, in general, white fillings as opposed...
The good thing about it is that it looks amazing. You know, in some cases you can't even see where they are. They almost compare, if not even better than metal in some cases. And because, like I said, they infuse little particles in there, and some of the particles they choose to infuse in them, in the latest materials, is that they use zirconia in there.
- With zirconia, it sounds familiar, isn't it?
- Cubic zirconia?
- Does that ring any bell?
Cubic zirconia is something like diamonds, man-made diamonds. And those things are hard and really, really strong.
So with materials like that, it makes the white fillings much, much stronger.
Now, it also doesn't have the expansion, or in other words, its terminal coefficient is about the same as a tooth. So with the expansion and contraction, it doesn't tend to crack teeth around it. White fillings also stick really, really well. They chemically bond, so that it's very unlikely to absolutely fall out. If it does fall out, it's probably because they probably broke, but it doesn't normally, if done the right way, it chemically bonds in there. And at Tooth Heaven, of course, we use the latest products, they're the ones that are infused with the zirconia. And there's even a very, very interesting material that's out there now which actually mimics the colors of teeth. Again, if you're not...
I'm not going to bore you with all the details again. I do like numbers, I do like data. And the materials we have are top notch. Now I'm sure the best clinics out there also will use the best materials for you. And of course this advice is only general in nature. And what we use might not be necessarily what your clinic use.
My suggestion is too seek your local professional, find out what they use, and then decide for yourself, and go from there. Well, until the next time we see you, I hope this video has helped you in some way or form. And until then, take care, and bye now.
Choose from the following options to find out more: