Your visit to the dentist should be as comfortable, relaxing and pain-free as possible. That’s our ethos at Toorak Dental Studio, and our team will do everything they can to put your mind at ease and ensure your results are exceptional. We want you to love your smile, so we offer discrete, tooth-coloured fillings that you won’t even feel. You can rest assured your treatment will be carried out using the latest processes to maximise your comfort, and that our preventative and restorative dental care like fillings and fissure sealants will enhance your long-term oral health.

There are several types of fillings available, and your dental professional can advise on the best one to keep your teeth healthy. This will depend on the location and severity of the damage, amongst some other factors. Some filling types include:

Composite fillings - these tooth coloured fillings are made of acrylic resin and other tiny ground particles, for a natural appearance and the ability to resist fracture in small to moderate restorations.
Ceramic/porcelain fillings - this type of filling is produced in our in-house lab before being applied to the teeth and is chosen for its resistance to cracks and stains.
Glass ionomer fillings - this semi-permanent dental filling material is most commonly chosen for younger patients. They’re tooth-coloured and bond easily with tooth tissue - generally lasting up to around 5 years.
Gold fillings - similar in structure to enamel, gold fillings are often chosen for non-aesthetic cases. They’re extremely durable and can last for 10-15 years.

You may experience some mild sensitivity for a couple of days following the procedure if the filling was very large. The levels of pain depend on your own threshold and the type of filling or severity of the damage.

However, we’ll try to minimise the pain using gentle dentistry techniques and applying a local anaesthetic to numb the area. You can help ease the pain following your treatment by brushing gently and using toothpaste and mouthwash for sensitive teeth.

Depending on the type of filling, they’re designed to last between 5 and 15 years. Because of stress caused by chewing, grinding and biting, all tooth fillings will eventually become damaged and need to be replaced. If your filling has worn away, cracked or fallen out, this provides an entry-point for food and bacteria and can cause tooth damage.

Visit your dentist regularly to ensure your dental fillings are still safe and effective. Detecting issues early on can minimise the need for extensive procedures further down the line.

Our patients strive for a bright, white smile and often opt for at-home or professional teeth whitening to achieve this. However, while tooth whitening can yield beautiful results, it’s important to remember that it will not whiten other parts of your mouth - such as fillings.

If you have your teeth whitened and find that your tooth coloured filling is now more prominent, you can book an appointment to have your fillings replaced and achieve a consistent white shade throughout the mouth

We’ll start with a consultation and oral examination, so we can assess the damage and determine which type of cavity filling will be most effective. We want you to feel completely at ease during the process, so feel free to ask any questions you have. Depending on your personal preference and the type of dental filling, we may apply local anaesthetic before cleaning, removing the decay and placing the bonding material and composite resin to the tooth. We’ll finish off by hardening the filling with a blue light and smoothing any edges to ensure maximum comfort with your bite.