White Fillings are becoming more and more popular in Dentistry today. The reason for this is because many people in today's society do not want to have silver fillings placed in their mouths for cosmetic reasons. The controversy over the mercury in silver fillings has made Dentist and the public avoid silver fillings.
Recent improvements in the composite white fillings have made them much more durable than in the past. The advantages of white fillings are: they are chemically and mechanically bonded to the tooth, they require less cutting of natural tooth structure, they induce less stress on the tooth and they look much better.
The disadvantages are that they take longer to place and are less wear resistant than silver fillings.