Silver-colored vs tooth-colored fillings

USE OF SILVER-COLORED VS TOOTH-COLORED FILLINGS

The American Dental Association Science and Research Institute looked at information about insurance claims to get an idea of how often silver-colored and tooth-colored fillings are used in back teeth. They looked at claims information generated by private insurers across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. They collected information on how often the insurers paid for each type of filling using the following factors:

Treatment dates from 2017 through 2019

Patients aged from 0 through 55 years

Male or female

Living in a city or in the country

Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

From 2017 through 2019, 33% of the study group had a filling placed in a back tooth. Tooth-colored fillings were used more often than silver-colored fillings. Only 5% of people had a silver-colored filling placed in a back tooth compared with 28% of people who received a tooth-colored one. Although tooth-colored fillings were more common in every age group, the oldest people (aged 35-55 years) had the lowest number of silver-colored fillings placed per year. Men also were more likely than women to have silver-colored fillings. People who lived in the country had more silver-colored fillings than people who lived in the city. In areas where more people were classified as non-Hispanic Black citizens, more silver-colored fillings were placed. Silvercolored fillings were used less often among communities made up of people classified as White, Hispanic or Latino, and Asian.

PROS AND CONS OF FILLING MATERIALS

Each filling type has positive traits and negative traits. Some of those are compared in thisTable.

CONCLUSION

Although both types of filling materials have positive and negative points, either is useful for fillings in the back teeth. These materials differ in cost, longevity, and appearance, which may be important in your decision making.