Clinical Tips 3: Old Composite Replacement

Old white fillings fail in a unique way. The white fillings, or composite fillings, are ‘bonded’ or glued to the tooth. The interface between the tooth and the filling material has a ‘margin’ or the line where the tooth meets the filling material. That margin is susceptible to leakage, often called micro-leakage which allows bacteria that cause cavities, a disease process we call caries, to form inside the tooth.

Because this tooth had such a large filling in it already, by the time we removed the old composite, and then the decay, there was not much of the tooth left (step 1-2). We perform a ‘core buildup’ here to put back some structure before fabricating a crown to go on that tooth to replace the missing tooth structure. We do that under a rubber dam to ensure a dry environment and strong bond strength.

We fabricate a crown here in the office, using our CEREC technology to put the tooth back together all in one day! More on CEREC to come, stay tuned for our next Clinical Tips!