What are the possible health effects of alternative tooth filling materials?
5.1 In modern dentistry, restorations are increasingly made with alternative, tooth-coloured materials. They vary in composition and properties and include composites, cements, and sealants. Composites, for instance, contain many components, including a resin base and a ceramic filler. Composites are applied as a paste to the tooth cavity and typically hardened using visible blue light. Some of the alternative materials are chemically very complex and not necessarily without any health effects. The substances within the material react inside the tooth and with the surrounding soft tissue. In the laboratory, it has been shown that certain resins that could remain present in the filling material can affect gum and pulp cells and cause mutations although this may not have any medical significance. More…
