Like Affinity Dental Care, most dentists nowadays do not use silver amalgam fillings anymore because of the mercury content in this material.
We only use composite resin for the fillings in both anterior and molar teeth to avoid mercury alloy. We like composite resin because of other advantages as well – tooth coloured, translucency that makes it more life-like, less drilling and removal of sound tooth structure before filling with this material, and ease of repair.
However, there are many different brands of composite resin by several manufacturers. They are not all the same in terms of chemistry and their properties.
Unfortunately, many different brands use BPA (bisphenol-A) or Bis-GMA (Bisphenol-A-Glycidyl-Methacrylate). BPA is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that affects your health in a large quantity. Considerable exposure can cause problems in the brain and prostate of fetuses and children. It can also cause behavioural issues in children. Other studies also link this chemical to early puberty, metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, infertility, thyroid dysfunction, and some cancers.
Spermatogenesis impairment and male reproductive abnormalities are related to excessive exposure to this chemical.
Bisphenol-A is a commonly used chemical for plastic materials such as polycarbonate bottles, containers, or coatings of cans. Bis-GMA is not the same as BPA; it comprises only the BPA structure in a tightly bonded ether form. There are traces of BPA in those composites, however.
Suffice it to say. It is a good idea to minimize the amount we are exposed to. In Affinity Dental Care, we use a non-BPA or GMA-containing composite resin made by Kulzer Dental called Venus Pearl. Venus Pearl does not contain any of the two chemicals.
Besides this advantage, there are other benefits of this composite material as it is:
- easy to be used to fill the cavities – it is not sticky and has a creamy consistency that makes the material easy to be applied to the cleaned cavities,
- durable – the material’s matrix is a nano-hybrid complex (the filler is from 5 nanometres to 5 micrometres) that resists wear, erosion and crack propagation,
- strong – It combines high flexural strength with minimal shrinkage stress. The results are long-lasting, and
- good looking – it offers a wide range of shades and can be applied in single- and multi-shade layering techniques. The material adapts perfectly to the colour of the surrounding teeth, creating an outstandingly natural look.
We do not introduce chemicals that are known to cause harm to our patients at Affinity Dental Care cause we like to consider wellness and health for our patients.
Top – a molar with a silver amalgam filling. Bottom – the same molar with a white composite resin filling. Dr. Wong at Affinity Dental Care did the filling.
