When treating a cavity, the dentist will remove the decayed portion of your tooth and fill it with another material i.e. a “filling”. There are multiple options for the material to be used in the filling, the most common being composite and amalgam fillings.

A composite filling is also known as a tooth colored filling, since the material used in the filling can be closely matched to the color of your teeth. Composite fillings provide good durability for restoring small to medium cavities, but can have a higher incidence of post-operative tooth sensitivity compared to amalgam fillings. The good news is that with new improvements in tooth-colored filling technology, post-operative tooth sensitivity is becoming less and less. For more information about composite-related post-operative sensitivity please refer to the FAQ section of our website.