Composite Fillings

What Is a Composite Filling?

A composite filling repairs a decayed or broken tooth with a tooth-coloured resin that is bonded directly to the remaining tooth structure and hardened with a curing light. It restores the shape and function of the tooth in a single appointment, and it does so while keeping more of the tooth than older techniques required.

That last point is the real advance. Amalgam fillings had to be held in place mechanically, which meant cutting undercuts into healthy tooth to lock the filling in. Composite bonds chemically to enamel and dentine, so only the decay itself needs removing. Less tooth removed means a stronger tooth for longer.

How Is a Composite Filling Placed?

1. Diagnosis. Examination and, where the cavity is between teeth, a bitewing radiograph - decay between teeth is invisible to the eye until it is large.
2. Anaesthetic, for anything deeper than the enamel surface.
3. Isolation. The tooth is kept dry, with a rubber dam where the cavity is large. Composite bonding fails in the presence of saliva - this step is not fussiness, it is what makes the bond hold.
4. Removing the decay. Only the affected tissue, checked with a caries detector where the extent is unclear.
5. Bonding and layering. An adhesive is applied and cured, then the composite is placed in layers of two millimetres or less. Layering matters: bulk-filling a deep cavity produces shrinkage stress that shows up months later as sensitivity or a marginal gap.
6. Shaping and polishing. The anatomy and contact points are rebuilt and the bite checked with articulating paper. The polish determines how well the surface resists stain.

Types of Filling

There is a size beyond which a direct filling is the wrong answer. When more than about half the biting surface has gone, a filling that large flexes and eventually splits the remaining walls - an inlay, onlay or crown protects the tooth instead. A dentist who keeps replacing an ever-larger filling in the same tooth is treating the symptom.

Composite or Amalgam?

Composite is the default in modern practice, and not primarily for appearance: it preserves more tooth, bonds to the remaining structure, and can be repaired rather than replaced wholesale. Amalgam is durable and inexpensive and served well for a century, but placing it requires cutting healthy tooth for retention.

On safety, the position of the major health authorities is that amalgam fillings already in place are not a health risk for most people and do not need replacing for that reason - removing sound amalgam releases more mercury vapour than leaving it. There are specific exceptions, including allergy and certain patient groups, and European regulation has been phasing amalgam out for environmental reasons rather than patient safety. If you want your amalgams replaced for appearance, that is a legitimate choice; if you are being told they are poisoning you, seek a second opinion.

What Does "Three-Surface Filling" Mean?

Every tooth has named surfaces, and a filling is described by how many of them it covers. A single-surface filling sits in the biting surface only. A two-surface filling extends onto the side where it meets the neighbouring tooth. A three-surface filling covers the biting surface and both sides. The number reflects how much of the tooth was lost and how much work the restoration involves - which is why quotations list it, and why "a filling" is not one price.

How Long Does the Appointment Take?

A small single-surface filling takes fifteen to twenty minutes. A larger multi-surface restoration takes thirty to forty-five. Several fillings can be done in one sitting - usually one quadrant at a time, so that the anaesthetic covers one area and you can eat afterwards on the other side.

How Long Do Composite Fillings Last?

Seven to ten years on average, with small anterior restorations often lasting far longer and large ones in heavy chewers lasting less. What determines the lifespan is less the material than the circumstances: the size of the cavity, whether you grind your teeth, how well the tooth is cleaned, and the technique used to place it. A filling replaced every three years is usually telling you about one of those four things, not about composite.

After a Filling

• Wait until the numbness has gone before eating - not because of the filling, but because you can bite your lip or cheek badly without feeling it. Two to three hours.
• The filling itself is fully set when you leave; unlike amalgam, composite does not need a day to harden.
• Some sensitivity to cold for a few days to two weeks is normal, especially after a deep filling.
• If the bite feels high, come back. Do not wait for it to "settle down" - a high filling causes pain in the tooth and the joint, and adjusting it takes a minute.
• Avoid staining foods for 24 hours where the filling is in a front tooth.

When Can I Eat After a Filling?

As soon as the anaesthetic has worn off, which is usually two to three hours. There is no waiting period for the material itself. For the first day, be gentle on that side if the tooth is tender, and avoid very hard food on a large new restoration.

Why Does the Tooth Still Hurt After a Filling?

Sensitivity to cold for a week or two after a deep filling is expected - the pulp has been irritated and is settling. Beyond that, there are four common explanations, in ascending order of seriousness:

• The bite is high. The most common cause by far, and the quickest to fix.
• The filling is deep and the pulp needs time. This settles over weeks, and should be improving, not worsening.
• A crack in the tooth, which causes sharp pain on release of biting pressure rather than on pressure itself.
• The pulp is irreversibly inflamed - throbbing pain, waking you at night, lingering after cold. That needs root canal treatment, and delaying it does not help.

Pain that is getting worse after two weeks should always be examined rather than waited out.

Are Composite Fillings Safe?

Yes. Composite resin is used routinely worldwide and has no established health risk at the exposures involved in dental restorations. Questions are sometimes raised about trace bisphenol-A derivatives in some materials; the measured exposure from a filling is minute and transient, and dental authorities consider composites safe. Allergy to composite is rare, and where a patient has a known resin allergy, ceramic alternatives are available.

What If a Filling Falls Out?

Keep the tooth clean, avoid chewing on that side, and arrange an appointment. It is not usually an emergency, but the exposed dentine is sensitive and decays quickly, and a cavity left open gets bigger fast. Temporary filling material from a pharmacy is a reasonable stopgap for a few days if you are travelling; it is not a repair.

A filling that comes out repeatedly from the same tooth means something else is going on - decay underneath, a crack, or a cavity too large for a direct filling. Replacing it a fourth time is not the answer.

Fillings While Travelling

Fillings are the most travel-friendly treatment there is: diagnosis, treatment and finish in a single appointment, with no laboratory stage and no follow-up needed before you fly. If a tooth has broken or a filling has come out during your stay in Kusadasi, it can usually be dealt with the same or next day.

If several teeth need attention, we plan them by quadrant across a few days so that you are never numb on both sides at once. And if a tooth turns out to need more than a filling, we will tell you that before starting rather than placing a large restoration that we both know will not last.

Why We Do Not Publish Filling Prices

Because the price depends on how many surfaces the restoration covers and how many teeth are involved, and neither is known until the teeth and the radiographs have been looked at. A quoted "price per filling" is a price for the smallest possible one. After the examination you receive a written plan listing each tooth and the restoration proposed for it.

Composite Fillings in Kusadasi

Our clinic is in Cumhuriyet Mahallesi in Kusadasi, with five treatment units and radiographic equipment on site, so decay between teeth is diagnosed rather than guessed at. The clinic is authorised by the Turkish Ministry of Health, and your first examination is carried out by Tugce Arslan.

If you have been told you need a large number of fillings, ask to see the radiographs and to have the extent of each cavity explained. It is a reasonable request and a good dentist will welcome it.

The information on this page is general and does not replace a clinical examination. Which restoration a tooth needs can only be decided after examination and radiographic assessment.