My Family Dental Restorative
Mercury-Free Fillings
We do not place amalgam. We use bonded tooth-coloured composite, at all six clinics.
Every filling we place is tooth-coloured composite, bonded to the tooth. We also remove and replace old amalgam fillings. What we will not do is tell you that a sound, sealed silver filling has to come out.
No amalgam placed
Bonded composite at all six clinics
Less tooth removed
Bonding does not need undercuts
Replacement too
Old amalgam removed and replaced
Told before, not after
If a crown is the honest answer, you hear it first
We use tooth-coloured composite for fillings and we do not place amalgam. That is a plain statement about materials rather than a philosophy, and the reasons are practical.
Why Bonded, Beyond the Colour
Amalgam has no chemical bond to the tooth. It is held in mechanically, which means the cavity has to be shaped with undercuts to lock it in, and that shaping removes healthy tooth that was doing nothing wrong.
Composite bonds to the tooth structure itself. The preparation can follow the decay rather than the requirements of the material, so less sound tooth goes. Over a lifetime of fillings and replacements, that difference adds up in the direction you want.
Replacing Old Amalgam
We remove and replace amalgam fillings at all six clinics. When it is worth doing:
- Decay has started underneath or around it
- A crack is running from it, or a cusp has already gone
- The margins are breaking down and it is leaking
- The tooth has become sensitive
- You would rather not have silver showing when you laugh
And when it is not worth doing: when the filling is intact, sealed, and giving no trouble. Replacing a filling always costs you a little more tooth. That is a reasonable trade for a good reason and a poor one for no reason.
Sometimes the Answer Underneath Is a Crown
Large old amalgams are often holding together a tooth that has very little of itself left. Once the old filling comes out, that is visible. Where the remaining walls are too thin for another filling to be safe, the honest answer is an onlay or a crown rather than a bigger composite that will split the tooth in a year.
We look for that beforehand and tell you it is likely, so the possibility is in the quote rather than sprung on you halfway through the appointment.
What We Are Not Claiming
We are a general dental practice that uses composite. We do not offer holistic or biological dentistry, and we do not make health claims about removing amalgam. If someone tells you that replacing sound fillings will treat an unrelated medical condition, be careful: that is a claim, and it should come with evidence and from someone who is not charging you for the treatment.
What is true is simpler and still worth having. Fillings that match your teeth, bonded rather than wedged, and a practice that will tell you when a filling does not need touching.
All Six Clinics
- My Family Dental Townsville (Kirwan)
- My Family Dental Bohle Plains
- My Family Dental Ingham
- My Family Dental Innisfail
- My Family Dental Bowen
- My Family Dental Emerald
Important: Whether an existing filling should be replaced can only be judged after an examination. Replacing a filling involves removing additional tooth structure. Any dental treatment carries risks and outcomes vary between individuals. Fees are provided in a written quote. Seek advice appropriate to your circumstances from a qualified health practitioner.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Our fillings are tooth-coloured composite, bonded to the tooth. That is a practical choice as much as an appearance one: a bonded filling does not need undercuts cut into healthy tooth to lock it in place, so less sound tooth is removed to place it.
Not automatically, and we will not tell you otherwise. An amalgam filling that is intact, sealed and causing no trouble can stay. Replacing any filling removes more tooth than you started with, so there wants to be a reason: decay underneath, a crack running from it, the margins breaking down, the tooth becoming sensitive, or the filling simply being at the end of its life. Wanting them gone because you do not like the look of them is also a fine reason, and we will do it.
We are not going to tell you they are, because that is not what the evidence supports and it would be a poor reason to sell you treatment. What we will tell you is what we do: we do not place amalgam, we use bonded composite, and we replace old amalgam when there is a clinical reason or when you ask us to. If you want to read about the safety question, ask your dentist or your doctor rather than a website with something to sell.
Usually a tooth-coloured composite filling, done in the same appointment. Where the tooth has too little structure left for a filling to be safe, which is common under a large old amalgam, the honest answer is a crown or an onlay instead. We will tell you which before we start, not after we have taken the old one out.
No, and we would rather be clear about that than let the label do work it should not. We are a general dental practice that uses composite rather than amalgam. We do not offer holistic or biological dentistry and we do not make claims about treatments outside ordinary dental practice.
Ready to Book Your Visit?
Book a visit at your nearest My Family Dental clinic: we’ll talk through your options and what it costs.