{"id":183,"date":"2023-04-25T01:04:53","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T01:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/?p=183"},"modified":"2023-04-25T01:04:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T01:04:53","slug":"should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Replace My Old Silver Fillings?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-188 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/In-Blog-300x251.png\" alt=\"Woman Wearing Glasses Wondering\" width=\"300\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/In-Blog-300x251.png 300w, https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/In-Blog-768x644.png 768w, https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/In-Blog.png 940w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Cavities aren\u2019t something anyone wants, but unfortunately, they are common. About 92% of Americans between 20 and 64 years old have tooth decay that has resulted in at least one.<\/p>\r\n<p>If you have an older cavity, it is likely silver in color. That\u2019s the way we used to do things, with amalgam fillings. Amalgam was introduced to the dental community around 1830 and is a thick paste made up of some metals including silver and mercury. It was used as the material of choice for fillings because it was affordable and lasted a long time.<\/p>\r\n<p>As technology has progressed over the years, it is more common for dentists to use composites for fillings. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/mercury-free-dentist\">Dr. Goebel<\/a> hasn\u2019t used amalgam fillings since he left dental school. These fillings are white in color, which is much more cosmetically pleasing, but also, the bonding technology helps strengthen the tooth.<\/p>\r\n<p>The American Dental Association maintains that amalgam fillings are perfectly safe, but many patients would prefer to not have them anymore. <br \/><br \/><em><strong>The benefits of composite fillings include:<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\u2022 They bond directly to the tooth making it stronger.<br \/>\u2022 Much less tooth structure is removed to restore a cavity.<br \/>\u2022 Less sensitivity. Metal conducts hot and cold. Alternatively, composites insulate the tooth.<br \/>\u2022 The tooth appears more natural looking. <br \/><br \/><strong>Should existing amalgam fillings be replaced with composite fillings?<\/strong><br \/>Teeth go through a lot of wear and tear daily. The same is true for amalgam fillings. It\u2019s possible that, over time, older fillings can begin to separate from the enamel surrounding them. This is a gradual process, but it can allow for bacteria and food particles to slip in, leading to further decay or even infection. Your dentist will check this during your routine bi-annual exam; however, you should be mindful of this as well.<\/p>\r\n<p><br \/><strong>The choice is yours, and we\u2019re here to help.<\/strong><br \/>Even if your old amalgam fillings are still intact and doing their job properly, you may choose to have them replaced with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/mercury-free-dentist\">composite fillings<\/a> for cosmetic reasons, because you don\u2019t want to have mercury in your body, or you want to strengthen the teeth. All are valid reasons we hear from patients. If you would like to replace your old amalgam fillings with composite fillings, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/appointment\">please discuss with us<\/a> to see if this option may be right for you.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cavities aren\u2019t something anyone wants, but unfortunately, they are common. About 92% of Americans between 20 and 64 years old have tooth decay that has resulted in at least one. If you have an older cavity, it is likely silver in color. That\u2019s the way we used to do things, with amalgam fillings. Amalgam was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,3,13,14],"tags":[46,70,47,71,69],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cosmetic-dentistry","category-dental-health","category-oral-hygiene","category-preventative-care","tag-cavities","tag-cosmetic-dentistry","tag-fillings","tag-metal-free-fillings","tag-replacement-fillings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Should I Replace My Old Silver Fillings? - Goebel Family Dentistry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should I Replace My Old Silver Fillings? - Goebel Family Dentistry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cavities aren\u2019t something anyone wants, but unfortunately, they are common. About 92% of Americans between 20 and 64 years old have tooth decay that has resulted in at least one. If you have an older cavity, it is likely silver in color. That\u2019s the way we used to do things, with amalgam fillings. Amalgam was [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Goebel Family Dentistry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-25T01:04:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Should-I-Replace-Featured-Image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"788\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nicole\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Should I Replace My Old Silver Fillings? - Goebel Family Dentistry","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Should I Replace My Old Silver Fillings? - Goebel Family Dentistry","og_description":"Cavities aren\u2019t something anyone wants, but unfortunately, they are common. About 92% of Americans between 20 and 64 years old have tooth decay that has resulted in at least one. If you have an older cavity, it is likely silver in color. That\u2019s the way we used to do things, with amalgam fillings. Amalgam was [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/","og_site_name":"Goebel Family Dentistry","article_published_time":"2023-04-25T01:04:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":940,"height":788,"url":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Should-I-Replace-Featured-Image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Nicole","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/"},"author":{"name":"Nicole","@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b28174d5b801d68f3478cd1682c9317b"},"headline":"Should I Replace My Old Silver Fillings?","datePublished":"2023-04-25T01:04:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/"},"wordCount":393,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Should-I-Replace-Featured-Image.png","keywords":["Cavities","Cosmetic Dentistry","Fillings","Metal Free Fillings","Replacement Fillings"],"articleSection":["Cosmetic Dentistry","Dental Health","Oral Hygiene","Preventative Care"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/","url":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/","name":"Should I Replace My Old Silver Fillings? - Goebel Family Dentistry","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Should-I-Replace-Featured-Image.png","datePublished":"2023-04-25T01:04:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b28174d5b801d68f3478cd1682c9317b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Should-I-Replace-Featured-Image.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Should-I-Replace-Featured-Image.png","width":940,"height":788,"caption":"Woman wearing glasses wondering. Should I replace my old silver fillings?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/should-i-replace-my-old-silver-fillings\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Should I Replace My Old Silver Fillings?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/","name":"Goebel Family Dentistry","description":"Social Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b28174d5b801d68f3478cd1682c9317b","name":"Nicole","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55f5d4c5fdfa532b9a4692dfb073edd0c818fc13d5ca212a183124b8533ac761?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55f5d4c5fdfa532b9a4692dfb073edd0c818fc13d5ca212a183124b8533ac761?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55f5d4c5fdfa532b9a4692dfb073edd0c818fc13d5ca212a183124b8533ac761?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nicole"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195,"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions\/195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goebelfamilydentistry.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}