Many patients require root canal therapy once tooth decay comes close to or infects dental pulp. Catching tooth decay early during your dentist appointment can mean the difference between getting a filling and recovering from a root canal. To protect your smile, we recommend scheduling a teeth cleaning and oral exam with your family dentist every six months. In this blog post, we will explain how future filling materials may be able to prevent tooth decay and stimulate tooth dentin growth.
What are bioactive glass fillings?
The future of could be bioactive glass. While it might seem weird to think of glass being a durable material for chewing surfaces, a recent study has shown that are able to repel a lot of the bacteria in your mouth that cause cavities. Bioactive glass fillings are also able to restore some of the minerals in your teeth so that they can recover after tooth decay. “Bioactive” simply means that your body reacts to the filling, as opposed to ignoring it.
What could be the benefits of bioactive glass fillings?
So far, researchers have discovered many benefits to using bioactive glass for fillings. Below, we give you an overview of the benefits so you can learn about this exciting advancement in dentistry. Keep in mind that the full effects of bioactive glass fillings are still being investigated before they can be determined safe for patients.
1.) Slow Secondary Tooth Decay
While restore teeth after your dentist drills out decay, they also create vulnerable spots for dental plaque and tartar to form. However, it has been discovered that most mouth bacteria avoids bioactive glass fillings. These fillings create an alkaline environment (pH greater than 7) in your mouth that bacteria don’t like.
2.) Restore Minerals in Teeth
Bioactive glass fillings release fluoride, calcium, and phosphate, which rebuild tooth minerals after cavities. When your tooth is able to restore minerals lost from tooth decay, it grows stronger. While composite fillings simply fill in holes left by drilling tooth decay, bioactive glass fillings restore teeth by replenishing minerals.
3.) Make Tooth Fillings Last Longer
last approximately five to seven years before needing replacement. However, tooth fillings with bioactive glass last longer. This means you won’t have to come back to the dentist’s office to have fillings replaced as often. Bioactive glass fillings also last longer because they restore tooth minerals and prevent bacterial colonization.
While we’ll still have to wait for future testing before dentists are able to use bioactive glass fillings, we are encouraged by advancements in dentistry. We always strive to provide the best dental treatments so our patients can maintain good oral health.
Dr. Jeff Helmus DDS at River Ridge Family & Cosmetic Dentistry is dedicated to helping patients maintain healthy smiles through a variety of different dental services. If you have a toothache and suspect you need a root canal or , don’t hesitate to call our Wyoming family dentistry at (616) 538-7320.