Over time Silver Mercury fillings will break down, start leaking and often fall apart. When they fall apart they usually reveal tooth decay and other stuff. When fillings this size fall apart there isn’t much tooth left, which often require a crown or cap to cover the whole entire tooth. Fortunately, today there are options to restore these teeth without having to cover the whole entire tooth, just the necessary areas. These teeth are great areas to use a restoration called an “Onlay”, which replaces only a portion of the tooth. An Onlay, can be created out of Gold, Ceramic, and Composite materials. Here’s a couple of Onlays completed with Composite material.
This is the Before Image: Note the broken filling on the tooth on the right!
We completed the restoration on the right tooth about 2 months ago and were treating the middle tooth today.
An Image of both restorations completed. A Nice Result.