Dental Fillings

At VILIDA in Obolon, we fill teeth with light-cured composite in the shade of your enamel: on back teeth the filling copies the natural cusps and fissures, on front teeth the translucent edge. Most fillings take a single visit under local anaesthesia, and the cost is set by the depth of the cavity. How decay itself is treated at each stage is explained on the Tooth Decay (Caries) Treatment page.

• 2 250 UAH

  a composite filling for a shallow cavity

• 1 visit

  is usually all it takes to fill one tooth

• 63%

  of fillings in back teeth were still working after 30 years

• Composite

  matches the shade of the tooth and hardens under blue light

When you need a filling

A filling is placed when a tooth has lost some of its tissue but can still be restored without a crown.

Types of fillings

At VILIDA, permanent fillings are made of light-cured composite, while other materials help at particular stages of treatment.

Fillings for front teeth

A filling on a front tooth should be invisible, so the dentist combines several shades of composite: a denser one inside, like dentine, and a more translucent one along the edge, like enamel. This is how decay between front teeth or a small chip on the edge is filled.

If the shape or colour of the tooth needs to change, or a large part of it has to be rebuilt, that is aesthetic composite restoration, which costs from 2 600 UAH. According to a review of 17 studies, composite fillings in front teeth fail at a rate of 0 to 4.1% a year, most often because of a chip, so it is best not to bite thread or open packaging with your teeth.

How a filling is placed

Each step affects how many years the filling will serve.

1. Diagnosis

   examination and X-ray

   The X-ray shows how deep the cavity is and whether decay is hiding under an old filling.

2. Anaesthesia

   local

   The tooth is numbed before work starts, so getting the filling does not hurt.

3. Dry field

   rubber dam or OptraGate

   Composite will not bond to a wet tooth, so saliva is kept away with a rubber dam or an OptraGate retractor.

4. Preparing the cavity

   decay or an old filling

   The dentist removes softened dentine or the old filling and gives the cavity a shape that will hold the filling.

5. Etching and adhesive

   so the filling holds

   The enamel and dentine are treated with a gel, which is then rinsed off, and an adhesive is applied: a bonding agent that joins the composite to the tooth.

6. Matrix

   for the side wall

   If the cavity reaches the side of the tooth, a thin metal matrix band and a wedge are placed to rebuild the wall and a tight contact with the adjacent tooth.

7. Layers of composite

   each under the light

   Composite goes in as thin portions, each cured with the light, so the material shrinks less.

8. Shaping and polishing

   cusps, bite, shine

   The dentist sculpts the cusps and fissures, checks the bite and polishes the filling so that plaque does not stick to it.

How long a filling lasts and when to replace it

A filling in a back tooth can last for decades. In a randomised trial that followed 99 composite fillings for 30 years, 63% were still working at the end, so about 1% were lost per year. Fillings most often failed because of new decay at the margin (39% of failures) and fracture of the material (36%). Most of this decay occurred in people at high risk of caries, and 70% of the fractures in people who grind or clench their teeth.

That is why an old filling that holds and does not leak is not replaced just because of its age. Reasons to see the dentist are a dark line or gap along the edge, a chip, food getting stuck, a sensitive tooth under the filling or decay under it on an X-ray. If the defect is small, the filling can be repaired rather than replaced completely.

How much a filling costs

The price of a composite filling depends on the depth of the cavity: superficial caries 2 250 UAH, moderate 2 650 UAH, deep 3 250 UAH. A temporary filling and a protective liner are charged separately (see the Dental treatment part of our price list), and so is anaesthesia. You will know the exact cost once the dentist has looked at the tooth.

Questions and answers