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Home > Archive > Dentistry > January 2007 > Replacing old composite fillings
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Replacing old composite fillings
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| Composite 2007-01-27, 10:09 pm |
| I have two old composite fillings - one in my upper left first incisor and
the other in my upper left second incisor. They are located on the extreme
edge of the tooth and aren't visible when looking at the teeth directly.
They are also not on the biting surface of the incisors and are quite small.
According to my dentist, they aren't leaking in spite of them being at least
20 years old and should be left alone. However, I am unhappy about the
slight color difference between the composite and the teeth and was
wondering if I should have them replaced. One of them is slightly yellow and
the other dark brown - not sure if it's because of staining over the years
or poor availability of colors over 20 years ago..
If I were to replace them, will the new fillings last as long as the current
ones have, seems like forever? Will they end up becoming stained again and
require replacement? Any other concerns I should be aware of before going
ahead to replace the fillings.
Thanks.
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| Steven Bornfeld 2007-01-27, 10:09 pm |
| Composite wrote:
> I have two old composite fillings - one in my upper left first incisor and
> the other in my upper left second incisor. They are located on the extreme
> edge of the tooth and aren't visible when looking at the teeth directly.
> They are also not on the biting surface of the incisors and are quite small.
>
> According to my dentist, they aren't leaking in spite of them being at least
> 20 years old and should be left alone. However, I am unhappy about the
> slight color difference between the composite and the teeth and was
> wondering if I should have them replaced. One of them is slightly yellow and
> the other dark brown - not sure if it's because of staining over the years
> or poor availability of colors over 20 years ago..
>
> If I were to replace them, will the new fillings last as long as the current
> ones have, seems like forever? Will they end up becoming stained again and
> require replacement? Any other concerns I should be aware of before going
> ahead to replace the fillings.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>
>
>
Since apparently the fillings are OK except for cosmetically, it should
be your call.
All resin fillings still are basically based on the same chemistry as
20 years ago. Bonding techniques and agents have improved, and they've
played around with the filler particle size and content, but basically
it's similar. As such, you can assume that over time there will be some
staining. But if you're tolerant enough that it took the fillings 20
years to bother you, you may get another 20 years on new ones (no
guarantees here), and that ain't so bad for a filling.
Steve
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