A composite filling at Berala Dental starts from $350, and how long it lasts depends far more on how large it is and how the mouth is looked after than on the material itself. Small fillings in low-stress positions commonly last well over a decade. Large ones in heavy-bite areas have a harder job and a shorter working life. There is also a point at which a filling stops being the right answer, and knowing where that point sits saves both teeth and money.
If you have been told you need a filling and want the reasoning explained, that is a fair thing to ask for.
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What does a filling cost?
At Berala Dental a composite (tooth-coloured) filling starts from $350. For children, a filling on a baby tooth starts from $250, and a filling on an adult tooth in a child is priced as an adult filling, from $350.
Those figures assume your private health fund contributes nothing. Whether your extras policy pays anything toward a filling depends on your level of cover and on your remaining annual limit, so it is worth confirming with your fund. A quote can be run against your specific policy before treatment, and a written quote is provided before any treatment starts. Our fees page explains why published prices are starting points rather than fixed figures.
Why do fillings start from $350 rather than one fixed price?
How many surfaces are involved
A filling confined to one surface of a tooth is a different job from one that wraps around two or three. More surfaces means more time, more shaping, and more of the restoration bearing load.
Where the tooth sits
A back molar takes the heaviest chewing forces and is the hardest area to keep dry during placement. A front tooth carries less force but demands close attention to shade and shape. Both add time for different reasons.
How deep the decay has gone
Decay approaching the nerve may need a protective lining placed first, and the tooth may need reviewing afterwards to check the nerve settles. A shallow cavity does not.
Whether it is replacing an existing filling
Removing an old restoration and finding decay underneath is common, and the cavity that results is almost always larger than the one originally filled. Each replacement cycle takes a little more tooth.
Want to know what a specific tooth would cost before committing to anything? Just ask.
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How long do fillings last?
Honestly: it varies enormously, and any single number quoted for the lifespan of a filling should be treated with suspicion. Published averages for composite restorations commonly sit somewhere around seven to twelve years, but individual fillings routinely last much longer or fail much sooner.
The factors that actually matter:
- Size. The strongest predictor. A small filling is supported by sound tooth on all sides. A large one is doing the structural work itself.
- Grinding and clenching. Repeated heavy loading is what wears and fractures restorations. If you grind, an occlusal splint at $650 protects both the fillings and the teeth around them.
- Cleaning at the margins. Fillings do not decay, but the tooth right at the edge of one can. Recurrent decay at the margin is the most common reason a filling is replaced.
- Diet. Frequency of sugar and acid exposure drives new decay around existing restorations just as it does on virgin enamel.
- Moisture control at placement. Composite bonds to tooth chemically, and that bond depends on the tooth being genuinely dry while it is placed. This is a technique factor rather than a patient one, and it matters.
When is a filling not enough?
Too little sound tooth remains
A filling relies on the surrounding tooth to hold it and to resist the bite. Once decay or previous restorations have taken most of the tooth, adding more filling material creates a restoration that is holding itself up. Beyond a certain point that is not a durable arrangement.
A cusp is cracked or has broken away
Where the pointed part of a back tooth has fractured, or a crack line runs under an existing filling, covering the tooth is usually more predictable than filling it again. A crown at Berala Dental is $1,500 to $1,800. See cracked tooth syndrome for how cracks are assessed.
The decay has reached the nerve
Once bacteria reach the pulp, cleaning out the cavity does not resolve the infection inside the tooth. Root canal treatment is $1,800 to $2,200 and is usually followed by a crown. How decay gets to that point is set out in how far decay goes before you feel it.
The same tooth keeps being re-filled
Three replacements in ten years on the same tooth is a pattern, not bad luck. At that stage the useful conversation is about why — grinding, a bite problem, decay risk, or a cavity that has simply outgrown what a filling can do.
The tooth cannot be restored at all
Where a fracture extends well below the gum, extraction is the honest answer. A simple extraction is $350 to $550, a surgical extraction $850, and replacement options including implants at $4,500 are discussed separately, with a written quote first.
All figures assume no health-fund contribution.
What about composite versus amalgam?
Berala Dental places tooth-coloured composite restorations. The comparison between the two materials, and why the profession has largely moved in this direction, is covered in detail in composite versus amalgam fillings rather than repeated here.
Quick answers
How much is a filling in Sydney?
At Berala Dental a composite filling starts from $350, depending on size and position, assuming no health-fund contribution. Fees vary between practices, and comparing them is only meaningful when you know what each figure includes.
Do fillings last forever?
No. Every restoration has a working life, and every replacement removes a little more tooth. That is the argument for finding decay early, when the filling needed is small.
Why does my filling need replacing if it does not hurt?
Because decay at the margin of a filling is usually painless until it is deep, in the same way that decay in a natural tooth is. It shows on an X-ray and on examination well before it produces symptoms.
Is a crown always better than a large filling?
Not always, and it is more expensive, so it should be justified. A crown becomes the better option when too little sound tooth remains for a filling to be supported, or when a cusp has fractured. Where a filling will do the job, a filling is the right answer.
Having a tooth assessed
A check-up, X-rays and clean at Berala Dental is $250, and that fee covers three intraoral X-rays, an OPG for new patients and thereafter every two to five years depending on bone loss and periodontal status, intraoral photos, the clean itself and a fluoride treatment, plus a periodontal chart where the clinician judges one is needed. Decay found at the small-filling stage keeps treatment simple and keeps costs down. General information on tooth decay is published by healthdirect.
Berala Dental has looked after Berala families since 2002, and you will always be told what something costs before it is done.
Call (02) 9649 6468 · Book online · WhatsApp
You can also read about tooth-coloured fillings, check-ups and cleans, or how our fees work.
Written and reviewed by Humzah Aly, Oral Health Therapist. This article is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised dental advice. Please see a dental practitioner to discuss what is right for you.
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