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Porcelain Fillings

Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra, Oakleaf, Orange Park

Porcelain fillings are tooth-colored fillings made from hard porcelain rather than soft composite that is hardened after placement. They are a beautiful and healthy alternative to the old metal fillings that used to be our only option. Dr. Blankenship can replace your old metal fillings with porcelain fillings, or with tooth-colored fillings made from dental composite.

Advantages of porcelain fillings

Your porcelain filling will be perfectly matched to the color of your tooth, so it will not be visible as a filling.

It will be bonded to the tooth. A metal filling is a separate entity from the tooth it fills – it is packed into the cavity and healthy tooth tissue may have been removed to shape the cavity for best retention of the amalgam.

Bonding makes a porcelain filling part of the tooth. By being bonded to the tooth, the porcelain filling exerts an inward pull on the tooth’s periphery, helping to prevent tooth fractures. Bonding holds the tooth together and prolongs its life whereas silver fillings tend to cause tooth fractures. The bonding also seals the connection between tooth and filling, preventing bacteria from entering into any tiny space there, as happens with metal fillings. This gives you good assistance with your daily dental hygiene.

Like other types of tooth fillings, porcelain fillings can be different sizes.

A porcelain filling that is small enough to fit within the tooth’s cusps is called an inlay
An onlay is larger and restores one or more outer tooth surfaces as well as the interior.

Please see Porcelain Dental Inlays and Onlays for more information.

What is Dental Porcelain?

As cosmetic dentistry has developed and become better known over recent years, new dental procedures and materials have also been developed and refined. Dental porcelain is one of those materials. It is not unlike the porcelain you might remember as Grandma’s best china -- a fine-quality ceramic material with stain resistance like glass. By itself it is brittle but when Dr. Blankenship bonds it to your tooth, it is strong and durable, yet not so hard as to damage the opposing tooth.

Dental porcelain and tooth enamel interact with light in similar ways. They both absorb some and reflect some, which creates a similar white sheen. The best porcelain also has subtle variations of shade the way tooth enamel does. There is an art to selecting the best porcelain for an individual’s restorations.

A cosmetic dentist like Dr. Blankenship has extra dental training in how to work with porcelain. That is part of his post-graduate training at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI).

During your complimentary cosmetic consultation, Dr. Blankenship can help you determine what type of filling is right for you. Please contact our Ponte Vedra and Oakleaf, Florida dental offices to schedule your appointment.