07/29/2025
The End of Dental Fillings? Possibly.
I still remember placing silver amalgam fillings in dental school. I never enjoyed them—and I haven’t placed one since. Now, with over 10 years behind me in practice, I’m glad I haven’t.
Silver fillings were a breakthrough in their time, but they have major drawbacks: they don’t bond to the tooth, they’re extremely rigid, and when used in large amounts, they often lead to fractured teeth. I can’t tell you how many broken silver fillings I’ve replaced with implants. And of course, they’re not exactly pretty—we can all agree on that.
For the last decade, I’ve relied on composite resin fillings (tooth-colored fillings) for smaller to moderate cavities. For anything bigger, I’ve turned to ceramic restorations—they’re stronger, bond better, and last longer. The catch? They’re more expensive, and understandably, not every patient wants to make that investment.
But here’s the truth: if you want your teeth to last a lifetime, every restoration needs to last as long as possible. Teeth don’t like being worked on repeatedly, and replacing a filling every 5–10 years—the average lifespan of a traditional filling—takes its toll. Still, many patients choose fillings over ceramics because of cost, even though the “cheaper” option often ends up costing more in the long run.
Fast forward to 2025, and the landscape is changing again. Thanks to advancements in 3D printing, we’re entering an entirely new frontier. We can now print hybrid ceramic-composite restorations—right in the office. In fact, as I write this, I’m printing a restoration for an upper molar that would have traditionally required a full ceramic restoration. This technology lets us provide a stronger solution at a lower cost than ceramics—without the compromises of large resin fillings.
Not every tooth needs this new approach. Small cavities still do fine with traditional composites. But when we’re dealing with larger restorations, 3D printing gives us a middle ground that dentistry has been missing for decades: strong, bonded restorations that are affordable and long-lasting.
As a dentist, I love being able to offer patients this option. It feels like we’re finally bridging the gap between cost and quality. And honestly, I hope that in the next 5–10 years, I’ll look back on large composite fillings the same way I look back on silver amalgams—something I used to do, but don’t need to anymore.
That’s modern dentistry. And modern dentistry is about solutions that last longer.
