Fillings

Most people find having a filling far easier than they expected. We numb the tooth with local anaesthetic first, so you shouldn’t feel pain while we work, and our Enjoyable Dentistry Technique™ helps you stay calm and relaxed, which makes a real difference if the dentist isn’t your favourite place to be. Very small fillings can sometimes be done without any anaesthetic at all.

Common signs include sensitivity to hot, cold or sweet things, a persistent toothache, a visible hole, chip or dark spot on a tooth, food repeatedly catching in one place, or a rough edge you can feel with your tongue. Any of these is worth getting checked.

It’s worth knowing that early tooth decay often causes no symptoms at all, which is exactly why regular check-ups matter. We can spot decay on examination and on X-rays long before it starts to hurt, and treating it early usually means a small, straightforward filling rather than something bigger like root canal treatment down the line.

There are a few materials, and we’ll recommend the one that best suits the tooth and what you’d prefer. The most common today is composite, a tooth-coloured material that bonds to the tooth and is shaped and set in a single visit. It blends in naturally, which is why it’s the popular choice, particularly for teeth that show when you smile.

Amalgam, the traditional silver-grey material, is very hard-wearing and has been used for back teeth for decades, though many people now prefer a tooth-coloured option. For larger repairs, porcelain or gold restorations, known as inlays and onlays, can be made in a laboratory and then fixed onto the tooth, offering excellent strength and longevity. We’ll talk through the options and explain which we’d suggest for your particular tooth, and why.

On average, fillings last somewhere between five and fifteen years, and often longer with good care, though it varies by material and where the filling is. Composite fillings typically last several years and can last well over a decade on teeth that don’t take heavy chewing, while hard-wearing materials like amalgam and lab-made inlays tend to be at the upper end.

Yes. Fillings are one of the most common and routine treatments in dentistry, and they’ve been used safely for generations to repair teeth and stop decay in its tracks.

You may have seen debate about mercury in traditional silver amalgam fillings. Leading dental bodies consider amalgam safe for the general population, and the move away from it across Europe is driven mainly by environmental concerns about mercury rather than any proven harm to patients.

We offer varying price points for fillings.  The cost will depend on the required cosmetic finish. We can colour-match your filling to blend with the rest of your teeth, if you’d like the filling to be unnoticeable. Grey or silver amalgam fillings offer an effective and affordable solution.