Tooth-Colored Fillings in Jersey City

A tooth-colored filling repairs a cavity, a chip or a worn edge with composite resin matched to the shade of your tooth. Done well, it is hard to spot even up close. This page explains when you need one, what happens, how long it lasts, and what it costs.

Call 201-425-8600 or request an appointment. We are at 115 Christopher Columbus Drive, Suite 200, two minutes from the Grove Street PATH.

When you need a filling

A filling repairs a tooth that has lost structure to decay, a crack, a chip or wear. Early decay often causes no symptoms at all, which is why most cavities are found at a checkup or on an x-ray. When there are symptoms, they tend to be:

• a twinge with cold or sweet things
• food catching between two teeth where it did not before
• a rough edge or a small hole you can feel with your tongue
• a dark spot or shadow on a tooth

Pain that lingers after hot or cold, or throbs on its own, usually means decay has gone deeper, and the tooth may need more than a filling. See root canal treatment.

Not every dark spot needs drilling. Some very early decay can be stopped with fluoride and better cleaning, and some marks are stain rather than decay. We will tell you which, and show you.

What happens

1. Numbing. Local anesthetic for most fillings. Very small or shallow ones sometimes do not need it.
2. Removing the decay. Only decayed and weakened tooth is removed. Because composite bonds to the tooth, we do not have to cut away extra healthy tooth to hold the filling in, as with a silver filling.
3. Choosing the shade. The shade is chosen at the start, before the tooth dries out and looks paler than it really is.
4. Bonding and building up. The tooth is prepared so the composite bonds to it, then the filling is built up in thin layers, each one set hard with a blue curing light.
5. Shaping and polishing. The filling is shaped to your bite and polished smooth, so it feels like tooth and resists stain.

A typical filling takes 20 to 60 minutes, depending on its size and where it is. The filling is fully set before you leave, so you can eat as soon as the numbness has worn off.

Why tooth-colored, not silver

We place tooth-colored fillings only. If you have older silver fillings, this is how the two compare:

• Appearance. Composite matches your tooth. Silver is obvious, and can make the tooth around it look gray over time.
• How much tooth is removed. Composite bonds to the tooth, so less healthy tooth has to be cut away.
• How the tooth copes. Composite is less rigid than silver, so biting forces are spread more naturally and the tooth is less likely to crack.
• Cost. Composite takes longer to place than silver, and some insurance plans pay only the silver-filling rate on back teeth, so you pay the difference.

Replacing old silver fillings

Old silver fillings can be replaced with tooth-colored ones whenever you are ready, and sooner if one is leaking, cracked or has decay under it. If a silver filling is sound there is no health reason you must replace it; many people do it for appearance, a few teeth at a time.

Where a large old filling has already weakened the walls of a tooth, a crown can protect it better than a bigger filling. We will say so if that is the case.

How long they last

A well-placed composite filling commonly lasts many years, often ten or more. Large fillings, fillings on a biting edge, heavy grinding and new decay at the edges all shorten that.

The surface can pick up stain over time, and it can usually be polished rather than replaced. See why fillings stain or turn yellow and dark line around a filling. If you are planning to whiten your teeth, read can you whiten fillings? first.

After a filling

• Wait until the numbness wears off before eating, so you do not bite your cheek or tongue.
• Mild sensitivity to cold or biting for a few days is common, especially after a deep filling, and fades on its own.
• If the tooth feels high when you bite, or the sensitivity is getting worse rather than better after a week or two, call us. A small adjustment usually fixes it.

What it costs

Fillings are priced per tooth, and by how many surfaces of the tooth are involved. Most PPO plans cover fillings at a percentage, and some pay for tooth-colored fillings on back teeth only at the silver-filling rate. We check your plan and tell you what you will pay before we start. See insurance and payment.

Dr. Meetu Singal earned her Doctorate in Dental Surgery at the New York University College of Dentistry and treats her own patients, so the dentist who checks your teeth is the one who knows your history. More about the practice.

We see patients from across downtown Jersey City, including Grove Street, Exchange Place and Paulus Hook. For a lost filling or a broken tooth, see emergency dental care.