What is Composite?

Composite is a material made out of a form of strong, durable plastic resin.  Composites are most often used as an alternative filling material to amalgams.  But composites are also used to repair chips and discolorations of teeth.

Technically, modern dental composite materials are a blend of glass or ceramic particles dispersed in a photo-polymerizable synthetic organic resin matrix.  In simpler terms, a composite is a reinforced plastic.

A Sample Case

Click here to see a detailed before-&-after picture.

Important Composite Properties

Composites are an improvement to amalgams in many different ways.  Composites have no metal.  And unlike typical amalgam plugs, composites are bonded to teeth.  For that reason, they are sometimes called bondings.  Composites come in many different shades to match the natural color of your teeth.  That's why they are sometimes also called "white" fillings.

Composites are considered conservative restorations.  Amalgams need to have a certain size, whereas composites can be very small (meaning less drilling of tooth).  Composites can also be sealed and resealed after several years, but amalgams cannot.

Composites do not exhibit metal-like thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, or thermal expansion or contraction like amalgams.  That means they don't put pressures on teeth that can result in cracks.  Quite the opposite, they hold teeth together restoring the tooth more closely to what the natural tooth used to be before the cavity.