Dental Fillings in Kearney, NE

Although you may carefully brush and floss your teeth, you can still get the occasional cavity. Fortunately, our dentist at Platte Valley Dental Clinic treats them with fillings to remove tooth decay and keep teeth healthy. However, Dr. Eric Ahrens can also use this procedure to fix other damaged teeth.

Repairing Teeth with Filling Materials

Although our dentist in Kearney, NE may use filling material to repair and fill holes in tooth enamel, they can also use it on worn teeth, cracks, and breaks to strengthen and fix teeth. Enamel wears away when you chew on things like fingernails, pencils, pens, or grind or clench your teeth.

Our dentist near you can also use some filling materials to repair chips and create inlays and onlays for severe damage or cavities. These dental prosthetics come from a denture lab and fit within the cusps of a tooth (inlays) or over cusps (onlays).

The materials for fillings near you include:

• Silver amalgam
• Gold
• Silver
• Composite resin
• Glass ionomer
• Ceramic

Our dentist mixes some of the materials in their offices before putting them in teeth, including silver amalgam and composite resin. For patients who want fillings in Kearney, NE that blend in with their teeth, they can choose composite resin, ceramic, or glass ionomer for white fillings.

How Long Do Fillings Last?

The materials that our dentist uses to fill teeth are durable and can withstand years of chewing, talking, and rubbing against each other. However, like enamel, these materials wear down over time and need replacing.

The longevity of the materials in fillings are:

• Glass ionomer – It is one of the weaker filling choices, lasting only about five years
• Composite resin – This material can last at least five years but usually longer
• Ceramic – Ceramic is a strong material and usually lasts 15 years in teeth
• Silver amalgam – Dentists have used this material in teeth for over a hundred years, and it lasts about 10 to 15 years
• Gold – While it is a soft metal, as a filling, it lasts about 15 to 30 years
• Silver – This metal is durable and can last at least 12 years

If you need fillings, call Dr. Eric Ahrens at Platte Valley Dental Clinic for an appointment.