Dark and unattractive old crowns can make you feel self-conscious when you smile. A porcelain filling replaces old, unsightly mercury fillings and eliminates the discoloration that the metallic solutions left behind. The porcelain holds the tooth structure together, strengthening the teeth.

Porcelain fillings offer patients metal-free dentistry, which allows light to flow through and reflect off the teeth, leaving a more natural smile.

Composite fillings are a mixture of glass or quartz filler in a resin medium that produces a tooth-colored filling. They are sometimes referred to as composites or filled resins. Composite fillings provide good durability and resistance to fracture in small-to-mid size restorations that need to withstand moderate chewing pressure. Less tooth structure is removed when the dentist prepares the tooth, and this may result in a smaller filling than that of an amalgam. Composites can also be "bonded" or adhesively held in a cavity, often allowing the dentist to make a more conservative repair to the tooth.