Gold Restorations

If longevity is your goal, nothing lasts longer than gold. At Repscher Dental, we do recommend gold restorations for certain teeth in certain situations. The fit is superior to all other restorations and gold wears at a similar rate to tooth structure.

Also, gold is one of the most conservative restorations available. Properly designed gold restorations are beautiful and hardly visible.

Designing minimally invasive gold restorations is an art that is not taught in most dental schools any longer. After years of a hands-on apprenticeship, Dr. Repscher is an expert in this premium standard of care.

Cast gold restorations deserve to be #1 on the restorative material menu. Regarding the longevity of gold castings, Dick Tucker a renowned gold restorative dentist, notes that they "are relatively permanent. We often see gold restorations that have been in service for 40 or 50 years. The permanence of gold fillings is the most obvious reason for their use. If there was a ‘lifetime' restoration, gold casting would be it."

Cast gold restorations have overall characteristics unavailable in any other restorative procedure for inlays and onlays, including low restoration wear; low wear of opposing teeth; lack of breakage; burnishability-malleability; and proven long-term service. Bonding cast gold restorations with resin cement improves their characteristics even more.  Although tooth-colored inlays and onlays, both ceramic and filled polymer, are increasing in use, and their serviceability is acceptable at a moderate level, cast gold restorations remain the standard of care for long-term indirect restorative service.

(J Am Dent Assoc 996 Aug;127(8):1233-6. doi: 10.14219/jada.archive.1996.041)

The longevity of a properly diagnosed, prepared, constructed, seated, and finished cast gold restoration has always exceeded that of all other tooth-colored materials (ie, direct or indirect, composite or ceramic). Still the standard of care for operative dentistry, cast gold has been used for thousands of years to adorn and restore teeth.

(Cast Gold: The Standard of Care for Operative Dentistry, Bruce W. Small DMD, MAGD)

571  Dentist choose gold restorations to treat defects in their own teeth.

Results of a survey by the American Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry.