Stop Tooth Decay
With Painless Fillings
Cavities can happen to anyone, even those with perfect dental hygiene habits. But while a small cavity is nothing to get too worked up about, it should be addressed ASAP. Left undiagnosed and untreated, bacteria and decay can travel deeper into your tooth. This can result in you needing a crown, root canal, or even an extraction.
Hawk Dental Artistry is the best place to get a dental filling in South Florida. With early detection tools, state-of-the-art technology, and natural-looking filling materials, we make getting a dental filling easy and comfortable. We also offer both inlays and onlays to treat large areas of decay and bonding treatments for those with chips, cracks, and other cosmetic concerns.
Filling, Bonding, Inlays & Onlays
What’s the Difference?
Dental Fillings
Although dental fillings can be cosmetic, they are primarily considered a health-related treatment — meant to treat and stop decay from spreading.
Dental Bonding
Bonding is a cosmetic process where Dr. Hawk attaches or “bonds” materials directly to your tooth to change its color and shape. Bonding is often viewed as a durable, affordable alternative to veneers.
Inlays & Onlays
An onlay is larger than an inlay but less than a dental crown. It’s also a single solid piece but covers the full cusp of the tooth (not just the area between).
Thanks to advances in modern dental materials and cosmetic dentistry techniques, dentists have more ways than ever before to create pleasing, natural-looking smiles. In his Boca Raton office, Dr. Hawk uses composite bonding for small to moderate tooth repairs with excellent results.
Dental researchers are continuing their often decades-long work developing materials, such as ceramics and polymer compounds that look more like natural teeth. As a result, dentists and patients today have several choices when it comes to selecting materials to repair missing, worn, damaged or decayed teeth.
These new materials have not eliminated the usefulness of more traditional dental materials, such as gold, base metal alloys and dental amalgam. That’s because the strength and durability of traditional dental materials continue to make them useful for certain situations, such as fillings in the back teeth where chewing forces are greatest.
Composite fillings are a mixture of glass or quartz filler in a resin medium that produces a tooth-colored filling. They are sometimes referred to as composites or filled resins. Composite fillings provide good durability and resistance to fracture in small-to-mid size restorations that need to withstand moderate chewing pressure. Composites can also be “bonded” or adhesively held in a cavity, often allowing the dentist to make a more conservative repair to the tooth.
Constant pressure from chewing, grinding or clenching can cause dental fillings, or restorations, to wear away, chip or crack. Although you may not be able to tell that your filling is wearing down, your dentist can identify weaknesses in your restorations during a regular check-up. If the seal between the tooth enamel and the restoration breaks down, food particles and decay-causing bacteria can work their way under the restoration. You then run the risk of developing additional decay in that tooth. Decay that is left untreated can progress to infect the dental pulp and may cause an abscess. If the restoration is large or the recurrent decay is extensive, there may not be enough tooth structure remaining to support a replacement filling. In these cases, Dr. Hawk may need to replace the filling with a crown.
Getting a Filling at Hawk Dental Artistry
Our fillings are placed using minimally invasive and gentle techniques.
- Our dental team will make sure you feel comfortable and relaxed before getting started
- Dr. Hawk will carefully remove the decayed tooth structure
- Using a tooth-colored bonding system the doctor will build up the filling and make sure it matches the natural color of your teeth.
- Finally, we’ll polish the filling, check your bite, and make any final adjustments.
We believe in helping our patients understand their dental needs and leave with a happy, healthy smile. You’re in good hands here.
