White fillings · Designer Smiles, Solihull
A filling you cannot see, at the NHS price.
A small white filling at Designer Smiles starts from £76.60, the NHS Band 2 figure, and on any tooth, not only the front ones. Tooth-coloured resin matched to your own shade, bonded to the tooth and finished in one visit, with the price told to you at the examination before anything starts.
In short
What a white filling is.
A filling repairs a tooth where decay or a crack has taken part of it away. A white filling does it with a composite resin, chosen from a range of shades to match your tooth, placed in soft layers, set hard with a blue light and polished, so the repair disappears into the tooth. It bonds to the tooth rather than sitting in it, which is why less healthy tooth has to be removed than for the old silver kind.
Is it the right repair?
When a filling is enough, and when it is not.
A filling replaces what is missing while the tooth around it is still strong. Past a certain point the tooth needs something that holds it together rather than fills it. The examination tells you which; here is the line.
A white filling fixes
- A cavity from decay, small or large, once the decay is cleaned out.
- An old silver filling that has cracked, leaked or failed, replaced with a white one.
- A chipped corner or a worn edge on a front tooth, which is the same resin used as composite bonding.
- A notch at the gum line where brushing or grinding has worn the tooth, often with a glass ionomer filling that releases fluoride.
- A child’s tooth, from £50.
When it is not enough
- Too little tooth left to hold a filling: the tooth needs a crown or an onlay, from £332.10, to stop it splitting.
- Decay that has reached the nerve: the tooth needs a root canal first, £550 to £850, then the filling or crown.
- A cracked tooth that hurts when you release a bite: a crown holds it; a filling would not.
- Sound silver fillings do not need replacing for their own sake. If you want them changed for the look, that is your choice and we say so honestly.
How it runs
One visit, from numb to polished.
- 1
The examination
The tooth examined and x-rayed if needed, the size of the filling and its price told to you, and the shade chosen against your own teeth.
- 2
Numb
Local anaesthetic, so you feel vibration and pressure and nothing else. A very small filling sometimes needs none.
- 3
The decay out
Only the decayed or broken part is removed; the healthy tooth stays, because the resin bonds to it rather than needing a shape cut to hold it.
- 4
Layers and light
The resin goes in soft, in thin layers, each set hard with the blue light, and is shaped to the tooth as it goes.
- 5
Bite and polish
You bite on a thin paper to find any high spot, it is adjusted, and the filling is polished until you cannot feel where it ends.
What it is like
Numb for the afternoon, then forgotten.
The appointment is usually under an hour. The numbness wears off over two or three hours, and a white filling is set hard before you leave, so you can eat as soon as you can feel your lip again. A new filling can be tender to cold or to biting for a few days, especially a deep one, and that settles; if it does not, or if the filling feels high when you bite, ring and it is adjusted in minutes.
How long it lasts depends on its size, where it is and how you bite. Small fillings in a mouth that is cleaned and checked last many years; a large filling on a grinding back tooth wears sooner, which is when an onlay or a crown is the better repair. It is checked at every examination and replaced when it wears or the edge starts to leak, not before.
Before and after
Decay restored here.
Two of the practice’s own cases: deep decay restored with a white filling.
What it costs
Priced by size.
The fee guide prices a filling by how much of the tooth it rebuilds, and the small one starts from the NHS Band 2 figure. On the NHS a course of treatment with a filling is Band 2, and the filling on a back tooth is usually silver amalgam; here every filling is white, on any tooth. If you are entitled to free NHS treatment, an NHS practice will cost you less, and we say so.
NHS figures are England’s band charges as nhs.uk publishes them; ours are from the Designer Smiles fee guide, September 2026.
White or silver
White composite against silver amalgam, set side by side.
Both fill a tooth well. Here is the honest difference, without running the silver ones down.
| What it is | How it holds | How it looks | Where you get it | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White composite | A tooth-coloured resin set hard with light | Bonded to the tooth, so less healthy tooth is removed | Matched to the shade; invisible in a smile | Here on any tooth from £76.60; on the NHS usually front teeth only |
| Silver amalgam | A metal alloy packed into the cavity | Held by the shape cut into the tooth | Silver, darkening over the years | The usual NHS filling on a back tooth, Band 2 |
A sound silver filling does not need replacing because it is silver. When one fails, or when you would rather not see it, it is replaced with white.
Who does it
Any of our three dentists.
GDC 265535 · 302859 · 303066Dr Aadam Binamin, Dr Uthmaan Binamin and Dr Abbaas Binamin all place white fillings, and each does the examination first themselves, so the size, the price and the shade are settled with the person who does the work. All three are on the General Dental Council register.
About the practiceWhat patients say
In their own words.
Sufian K.★★★★★Had root canal done here. Fantastic service from all staff cannot recommend highly enough. Very professional, hygienic and you leave the practice feeling you’ve got your moneys worth.
Deborah P.★★★★★Very professional and relaxed atmosphere. Thorough examination and all options explained in detail. Highly recommended.
San A.★★★★★Excellent treatment, very friendly staff. Made me feel very comfortable throughout the treatment. Very convenient location, would highly recommend.
Questions
Asked before people book.
How much is a white filling?
From £76.60 at Designer Smiles for a small one, which starts from the NHS Band 2 charge, £170 for a medium and £250 for a large one. The size, and so the price, is told to you at the examination before anything starts.
How much is a filling on the NHS?
A course of NHS treatment that includes a filling is Band 2, £76.60, however many fillings it takes, and free if you are exempt. On a back tooth the NHS filling is usually silver amalgam; white fillings are generally only available on the NHS for front teeth. Here every filling is white, and the small one is the same £76.60 figure.
White or silver: which is better?
Both work. White bonds to the tooth, so less healthy tooth is removed, and it matches; silver is held by the shape cut into the tooth and is very hard-wearing. We place white on any tooth. A sound silver filling does not need replacing for being silver.
How long do white fillings last?
Many years, with the size, the position and how you bite deciding it. A small filling in a mouth that is cleaned and checked outlasts a large one on a grinding molar, and a filling is replaced when it wears or its edge starts to leak, which your check-ups catch early.
Does having a filling hurt?
No. The tooth is numbed, so you feel vibration and pressure. A very small filling sometimes needs no anaesthetic at all. Afterwards a deep filling can be tender to cold for a few days, and that settles.
Can I eat after a white filling?
As soon as the numbness has gone, two or three hours later, because the resin is set hard with the light before you leave. Waiting for the numbness is about not biting your lip, not about the filling.
Should I have my old silver fillings replaced?
Only when they fail, or when you would rather not see them. Taking out a sound filling removes a little more tooth each time, so we do not recommend it for its own sake; if you choose it for the look, it is your choice and we say so.
What if the cavity is very big?
Then a filling would leave the tooth too weak, and the honest repair is an onlay or a crown, from £332.10, which holds the tooth together. If the decay has reached the nerve, a root canal comes first. The x-ray at the examination decides it, and you are told before anything is done.
My filling has fallen out. Is that an emergency?
Ring us: a lost filling leaves the tooth open and sharp, and it is replaced or dressed the same day in practice hours as an emergency appointment, £27.90. Keep the area clean and avoid biting on it until then.
Where are you, and how do I book?
4 Manor Square, Solihull B91 3PX, in the middle of the town. Book online, call 0121 709 3821, or message us on WhatsApp. The first visit is the examination, from £27.90.
Fixed in one visit, at the band figure.
White fillings from £76.60, on any tooth, priced at the examination before anything starts.
4 Manor Square, Solihull B91 3PX · [email protected]
