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How long do fillings last?

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How long do fillings last?

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The position, shape, material, and functioning pressure, all influence how long dental fillings will last. Larger fillings that bear a heavy functional load tend to break down more quickly than smaller fillings that bear little force. This is why it is impossible and meaningless to try to state categorically how long fillings should last. However, when placing a filling, the dentist may have an idea of the expectation of the life of the filling. For example, a very small filling in the groove of a tooth away from biting pressure could be there for decades whereas a very large one in the mouth of a person who grinds their teeth may be lucky to last a few years and really should have a crown. In a checkup, your dentist is constantly monitoring the state of your fillings, looking for signs of weakness, cracking, decay or discolouration.

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Tooth colored composite fillings last between 10 and 20 years and silver fillings may last only 10 years. The edges of silver fillings erode allowing bacteria to grow between the tooth and the filling causing decay which may be undetectable by x-rays because of the metal filling.

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