We can restore the tooth back to its original contours using tooth-colored filling material, gold or porcelain. We do not use silver-mercury black fillings; that procedure was discontinued at Sitka Dental in the early 1990s. Both Dr. Jacobsen and Dr. Pearson have been trained in the minimally invasive technique, which will many times allow the tooth to be rebuilt without resorting to a crown, thereby saving as much good tooth structure as possible.

After decay is removed from a tooth, something must be placed in that space to give strength back to the tooth.

Fillings: Fillings are the most common restorative procedure.

Onlays: In addition to fillings, lab fabricated onlays are sometimes used. Although many patients think of these as fillings as well, they are actually different since they are laboratory fabricated.

White fillings: An attractive, durable alternative to silver-mercury fillings. White fillings are made of a strong composite resin that is matched to the surrounding tooth color. In the past, white fillings were placed only on front teeth, but recently a stronger more durable material has been developed that can withstand the chewing pressure of back teeth.

White Porcelain onlay: A porcelain onlay is used when the cavity is too big for a filling, but isn't so big that a crown is required. Onlays (also known as overlays) will overlay one or more cusps in order to protect and strengthen the tooth.

An inlay or onlay may also be made of gold.