Key Facts
- What it is: Resin infiltration is a drill-free, minimally invasive cavity filling technique using liquid resin to seal early-stage decay.
- Who it’s for: Best suited for small cavities that form between teeth; not yet standard for larger or central tooth decay.
- How it works: – A perforated plastic sheet isolates the cavity – A gel cleans and preps the tooth surface – Liquid resin is injected into the cavity – A curing light hardens the resin into place
- Main advantage: No drilling, no needles, and less anxiety for patients—preserves more healthy tooth structure compared to traditional fillings.
- Pain factor: Unlike conventional fillings, it requires no anesthesia, making it a virtually pain-free experience.
- Extra benefit: Reduces damage to surrounding tooth structure that can occur during drilling.
- Limitations: Currently effective only for early decay between teeth; deeper or central cavities still require traditional filling methods.
- Status: Still in clinical trial phase, but showing strong success rates and expected to become a common treatment option in the future.
- Bottom line: A breakthrough in dentistry—resin infiltration offers a gentler, safer, and more comfortable alternative for patients with early-stage cavities.
Dental filling is the treatment modality recommended when decay in a tooth progressed slightly beneath the initial stage. It aims at stopping the cavity from getting worse and restoring the decayed portion of infected teeth using medically safe filling materials. Aside from treating decayed teeth, the fillings can be used to repair cracked teeth in addition to treating teeth with cavities.
However, the filling treatment mandates needles and drilling which scares some people.
Do you want drilling-free cavity filling treatments? Resin Infiltration Fillings will match your needs. This experimental treatment is one of the breakthroughs in dental filling treatment and has ensured success rates. Our dentists have explained it in this blog article.
What is involved in this new cavity filling treatment?
The resin infiltration fillings are suitable to treat small cavities that develop between the teeth. In this approach, a liquid resin is utilized to restore the damage caused by cavities in the teeth.
The treatment begins with sliding a perforated plastic sheet over the tooth’s decayed portion. It pushes a gel to clean the decay whilst it prepares the tooth surface to accept the resin infiltrant. Now the liquid resin is injected through the sheet to fill the tooth.
Then the treated tooth is illuminated with a dental curing light (Halogen or LED) that makes the resin materials active so that polymer chains form and harden the fillings.
What is the main advantage of resin infiltration fillings over regular cavity fillings?
The cavity filling treatments provided nowadays require drilling the tooth structures to access the decayed regions inside a tooth. Furthermore, painkilling injections are also needed to numb the infected tooth and its surrounding regions. It scares and exerts additional stress on patients’ minds during the procedure even though they do not sense any pain.
Meanwhile, some healthy tooth structures in a decayed tooth are also likely to be damaged while drilling.
In contrast, the resin infiltration fillings allow dentists to access and treat cavities with no drilling. It guarantees an enjoyable dental visit. Right?
Bottom Line
It is a less painful treatment option and is better than the current methods used for dental fillings. It is because this approach has eliminated the need for drilling. However, it is currently applied to address cavities between the teeth. Dental doctors would recommend the existing filling treatments to treat decay in the center of teeth.
Currently, the resin infiltration filling is used in clinical trials by researchers. Undoubtedly, it will obtain an inevitable treatment option in the coming years.
