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Everyday dentistry · Composite
A white filling at Sardinia House in Holborn is a composite resin restoration, matched to the shade of your tooth and sculpted to its shape, used to repair decay or replace an old silver filling. It suits most small and medium-sized cavities. One visit of around 45–60 minutes, with the tooth numbed. Small composite fillings from £399; signature fillings from £595.
Guide fee
From £399
Visits
One
Appointment length
Around 45–60 minutes
With
All our dentists
Who it is for
Decay caught at a check-up, often before it has caused any pain, is cleaned out and filled while it is still small. A small filling keeps more of the tooth and lasts longer than a large one.
Silver fillings darken with age and can show when you laugh. Replacing one with composite means removing the old material, checking the tooth beneath and rebuilding it in a matching shade.
Because composite sticks to enamel, a chipped corner or worn edge on a front tooth can usually be built back up with no healthy tooth drilled away. For larger changes, see our composite bonding page.
Fillings do not last forever. A margin that has opened lets bacteria in beneath, and the tooth may become sensitive. Replacing it before decay spreads keeps the repair small.
The difference
Your appointment starts with an intra-oral scan, so you can see the cavity or the failing filling on screen before we begin. The same scan records the tooth so that its original shape can be reproduced.
Composite comes in many shades and translucencies. We choose against your own tooth while it is still hydrated, and layer the material so that the finished filling takes on the colour of what surrounds it.
Because composite is bonded to the tooth rather than held in by shape, we remove only the decay and the weakened enamel. More of your tooth stays, which matters most over the decades.
For back teeth that take the full force of the bite, or front teeth where appearance matters most, our signature tooth-coloured fillings are built in finer layers and finished under magnification, with the anatomy of the tooth sculpted in.
The process
We confirm what the tooth needs, show you on screen and numb the area with local anaesthetic. For a very small filling at the edge of a tooth, numbing is sometimes not needed at all.
Only the decayed or damaged part is taken away. We isolate the tooth to keep it dry, which is what gives a composite filling its strength and its seal.
Composite is placed in thin layers, each shaped and set with a curing light, so that the filling is dense throughout and the contours of the tooth are rebuilt rather than filled flat.
The filling is carved to match the surface of the tooth, your bite is checked with marking paper and adjusted, and the surface is polished so that it feels like your own tooth to the tongue.
Afterwards
You can eat as soon as the numbness wears off, usually within two or three hours. Some sensitivity to cold is common for a few days and settles on its own. If the bite feels high once the anaesthetic has gone, let us know, as a small adjustment takes minutes. Brush and clean between your teeth as normal.
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Good to know
At Sardinia House in Holborn, composite fillings start from £399 for a small filling, £449 for a medium and £499 for a large. Our signature tooth-coloured fillings are from £595. The exact fee is confirmed in writing after your examination.
The tooth is numbed first, so you feel pressure and vibration rather than pain. The injection itself is the part most people notice, and we take our time over it. Afterwards, a little sensitivity to cold for a few days is normal.
A well-placed composite filling can be expected to last many years. How long depends on its size, where it is in the mouth, how hard you bite and how well the tooth is kept clean. We check every filling at your routine visits.
Not simply because they are silver. A sound amalgam filling can stay in place. We suggest replacement when a filling is cracked, leaking or has decay beneath it, or when you would like it to be less visible and the tooth is suitable.
Composite is fully set by the curing light before you leave, so the filling itself is ready at once. We suggest waiting until the numbness has gone so that you do not bite your cheek or tongue without noticing.
Both use composite resin. A signature filling is built in finer layers with a wider range of shades, and more time is spent sculpting and polishing the anatomy of the tooth, so that it is harder to tell from natural enamel. It suits visible teeth and larger back-tooth repairs.
A filling restores a tooth that still has strong walls around the cavity. When too much of the tooth is missing, a filling can flex and crack, and a crown or an onlay protects it better. We advise on the scan, and a same-day CEREC crown can often be made here in one visit.
Often, yes. If the tooth is settled and there is time in the appointment, we can replace a temporary filling with a bonded composite filling at the same visit. Where the tooth has been painful we may wait a few weeks first, so that the nerve has a chance to calm before the final filling is placed.
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