Dental Care of Boca Raton

In this age of glitz and instant gratification, there is a tendency to overlook the tried and true, the long-lasting, and the dependable. In dentistry, this is the case with gold. It has been used for four thousand years, and it is of such high quality that, in my office, we are willing to back these restorations with a lifetime warranty. There are two basic categories of gold fillings. Gold inlays are smaller and generally restore one or two surfaces of a tooth. Gold Onlays are larger and will cover larger parts of the chewing surface in order to strengthen weakened cusps.

The shape of the biting surface is one of hills and valleys with a thin groove running through the middle. Also, there are often isolated pits in various places near the center of the tooth. These grooves and pits can be very irregular and extend quite far into the depths of the tooth. They are like a very thin and narrow mine shaft or vein of ore, where bacteria can accumulate untouched, and use as a pathway to travel well into the tooth where they can hide, breed, eat and produce acid which ultimately dissolves away the enamel, (which at the base of this groove is very thin) and causes decay.