How Much Does a Filling Cost in Toronto? White vs Silver
Clinically reviewed by Dr. Abinaash Kaur, DDS, RCDSO, on 2026-10-19. Dr. Kaur is a general dentist in Toronto (Bloor West Village) registered with the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario.
In Toronto, a one-surface white filling costs about $214 to $257, the 2026 Ontario Dental Association fee guide figure for general dentists as publicly reported. That's a ballpark, not a quote, and a bigger filling that covers more of the tooth generally costs more.
I list the same $214 to $257 row in our 2026 guide to Toronto dental prices, with one caveat carried over here: the full fee guide is open to ODA members only, so you can't look the number up yourself. If you have a dental plan or the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), part of that bill may be covered. Here's how the number moves, and what you're paying for.
Why doesn't a filling have one fixed price?
There's no fixed fee for a filling in Ontario. The Ontario Dental Association says plainly that "Dentists are not required to follow the Guide or any fee schedule," so your dentist's fee can sit above or below it (Ontario Dental Association).
The same page lists what shapes a fee: how complex the treatment is, how long it takes, the materials, the equipment, sterilization, trained staff, and ongoing education for the team. The location of the office and its overhead matter too (ODA).
For one filling, three things move the number most:
- Surfaces. A tooth has several sides, and a filling that wraps around two or three of them is a bigger job than one on the chewing surface alone. Plans count fillings by surface too. The CDCP's own guide says "Restoration eligibility is once per tooth surface in any 24-month period" (CDCP Dental Benefits Guide).
- Fee codes. The CDCP's 2026 Ontario fee grid lists permanent-tooth composite fillings in several code blocks, and the lowest fee in each block runs from $169.18 to $203.00 (Sun Life, 2026 Ontario CDCP grid).
- Material. The Canadian Dental Association's patient brochure calls silver amalgam "the least expensive type of filling" (CDA, Dental Fillings).
White or silver: what's the real difference?
There are two broad kinds of filling, metal and composite, and dental amalgam is the most common metal one (ODA).
Composite is the white filling. It's a tooth-coloured mix of plastic and glass. Your dentist puts a bonding glue in the cleaned-out cavity, then adds the composite in thin layers, and a special light hardens each layer (CDA). It matches your tooth and is usually done in one visit.
Amalgam is the silver filling, a mix of metals that includes mercury, silver, copper and tin. The CDA lists its pros as low cost, a long life and a single appointment, and its main con as the silver colour (CDA).
Here's the trade-off. Canada's drug and health technology agency found (a 2018 review) that amalgam fillings "last longer and cost less" than composite ones, with "no clinically important differences in the safety" of the two (CADTH, now Canada's Drug Agency).
A 2021 Cochrane review found composite fillings in back teeth had "almost double the risk of failure compared to amalgam restorations" (Cochrane review, PubMed). Composite fillings were also at much higher risk of secondary decay (new decay at the edge of the filling), while they weren't more likely to break. Two cautions come with it: the evidence was rated low-certainty, and the reviewers noted that composite materials have improved since the trials in the review ran.
There's also a third option. Glass ionomer fillings release fluoride and suit spots you don't bite hard on, like the gum line, though they aren't as strong (CDA).
Who decides? You do. The CDA brochure puts it this way: "Your dentist can suggest the kind of filling that is best for you, but the final choice is yours" (CDA). In Canada, no policy dictates one material over the other (CADTH).
At our office, we freeze the area, remove the decayed part, and fill the space with tooth-coloured composite. Most fillings are done in under an hour (more in our post on whether a cavity can heal itself).
Should you replace your old silver fillings?
Many people worry that silver fillings are slowly harming them, and that the fillings should come out. Here's what Canada's health authorities say instead.
Health Canada says amalgam is the largest single source of mercury exposure for average Canadians, but adds that "this exposure is not causing illness in the general population." It adds that the evidence "does not warrant the removal of existing amalgam fillings" in people with no signs of harm (Health Canada). A 2020 risk assessment affirmed those recommendations.
The CDA goes further. Replacing working amalgam fillings for safety reasons is "unnecessary and ill-advised" (CDA position on dental amalgam). Ontario's dental regulator calls amalgam "a safe, useful and necessary part of the restorative materials available," and says removing sound amalgam fillings isn't justified without health effects from mercury (RCDSO).
There are real exceptions, and they matter:
- Pregnancy. Health Canada says pregnant women should avoid mercury fillings, and that whenever possible, amalgam fillings shouldn't be removed while you're pregnant, because removal can expose you to mercury vapour (Health Canada). Its formal position on amalgam says they "should not be placed in or removed from the teeth of pregnant women" whenever possible (Health Canada).
- Mercury allergy or kidney problems. People allergic to mercury and those with impaired kidney function should avoid mercury fillings (Health Canada).
- Children's baby teeth. When appropriate, they should be filled with non-mercury materials (Health Canada).
Needing work doesn't always mean a full replacement, either. A chipped filling can often be repaired. One review found repair "can increase significantly the lifetime of restorations" (Demarco 2012, PubMed), and another found no difference in failure risk between repaired and replaced fillings, on very low-certainty evidence (repair vs replace review, PubMed). Dentists don't always agree on when an old filling should be replaced, and our post on whether your dentist is upselling you covers the questions to ask.
How long does a filling last?
A pooled analysis of 2,816 white fillings in back teeth found yearly failure rates of 1.8% over five years and 2.4% over ten years (Opdam 2014, PMC). Put plainly, about 2 of every 100 fillings needed attention in a given year.
A broader review found that 90% of clinical studies indicated yearly failure rates of 1% to 3% can be achieved for these fillings (Demarco 2012, PubMed).
What gives, then, when one filling outlasts another? The material matters, but so do your cavity risk, the size of the filling and how you use your teeth:
- Your cavity risk. In the pooled analysis, people at high risk of decay saw a 10-year yearly failure rate of 4.6%, against 1.6% for low-risk patients (Opdam 2014, PMC).
- Filling size. Fillings covering more surfaces failed more often in the pooled analysis too.
- Grinding. Tooth grinding (bruxism) is one of the patient factors behind fillings that fracture (Demarco 2012, PubMed).
What does insurance or the CDCP pay toward a filling?
In the two Canadian plans I looked at, fillings sit under "basic" services, but the percentage and the yearly cap differ:
- The federal public service plan pays 90% for basic services, and its booklet lists "Fillings (amalgam, silicate, composite, acrylic)" under basic. Replacement fillings on the same tooth and surface are limited to once every 24 months for adults (Canada Life, PSDCP booklet).
- An individual plan, GreenShield ZONE Fundamental, pays 70% for basic services including fillings, with an overall maximum of $450 per person per year (GreenShield).
The CDCP covers permanent and temporary fillings (CDCP coverage). For people enrolled in the CDCP, the plan pays a share of its own fee based on your adjusted family net income:
| Adjusted family net income | CDCP pays | Your co-payment |
|---|---|---|
| Lower than $70,000 | 100% of the CDCP fee | 0% |
| $70,000 to $79,999 | 60% of the CDCP fee | 40% |
| $80,000 to $89,999 | 40% of the CDCP fee | 60% |
The catch is that "The CDCP fees may not be the same as what providers charge," so you may owe the difference directly to your dentist (CDCP coverage).
For kids, Ontario's Healthy Smiles program covers fillings for eligible children and youth 17 and under from low-income households (Ontario).
When is a filling no longer enough?
A filling usually works while enough healthy tooth is left to hold it. The ODA explains that a dentist can catch a cavity while it's small and "stop it from getting bigger by giving you a filling" (ODA, cavities). A small cavity that isn't growing quickly may be watched (CDA, cavities).
Left alone, a cavity keeps growing. Bacteria can reach the soft inner tooth, which can lead to pain, infection and a root canal (ODA, cavities). When decay reaches the nerve, our post on root canal cost in Toronto explains what a root canal involves. When too little tooth is left to hold a filling, our crowns cost guide compares a crown, a filling and an onlay. For a young child who can't sit through a filling yet, silver diamine fluoride is a no-drill option that stops decay rather than removing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much is a filling in Toronto without insurance? The 2026 Ontario Dental Association fee guide, as publicly reported, puts a one-surface composite filling at $214 to $257 (2026 Toronto dental prices). Dentists can charge above or below the guide, so treat it as a ballpark and ask for an estimate after your exam (ODA).
Q: Are white fillings covered the same as silver? It depends on your plan. The federal public service plan lists amalgam and composite fillings together under basic services at 90% (Canada Life). For fillings on permanent teeth, the CDCP guide says that when both composite and amalgam codes are billed on the same tooth, "the system will pay the cost of the lesser amount up to a maximum cost of an amalgam 5 surface restoration/complete tooth reconstruction" (CDCP Dental Benefits Guide). In the 2026 Ontario CDCP grid, amalgam codes 21211 to 21213 list the same fees as composite codes 23101 to 23103: $169.18, $211.91 and $258.10 (Sun Life, 2026 Ontario CDCP grid). Check your own booklet.
Q: Does the CDCP cover fillings? Yes. The CDCP covers permanent and temporary fillings and pays 100%, 60% or 40% of its own fee depending on your adjusted family net income. Its fee may not match what your dentist charges, so you may owe the difference (CDCP coverage).
Q: How long does a composite filling last? In a pooled analysis of 2,816 white fillings in back teeth, they failed at a yearly rate of 1.8% over five years and 2.4% over ten years (Opdam 2014, PMC). In that analysis, cavity risk and the number of surfaces filled made a clear difference.
Q: Does getting a filling hurt? Your dentist usually freezes the area first so you don't feel discomfort during the filling (CDA). The freezing is usually the part people notice, and it's a quick pinch (our cavity post).
Q: Is it safe to have amalgam fillings removed? Health Canada doesn't recommend removing sound amalgam fillings in people with no health effects, and advises against removal during pregnancy whenever possible (Health Canada). Ontario's regulator says removing sound amalgam fillings isn't justified without health effects from mercury (RCDSO).
Reviewed by Dr. Abinaash Kaur, B.Sc., DDS (University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry), who has practised general and family dentistry in Bloor West Village for about 25 years. This article is general oral health information, not a diagnosis, a quote, or a substitute for an examination.
Told you need a filling, or wondering about an old one? We're at 750 Annette Street in Bloor West Village, serving the Junction, High Park, and Baby Point. Book an exam with The Village Dentist and we'll talk through your options and the cost before any work starts.
