Dental Bonding Is a Quick and Affordable Way to Correct Chipped or Cracked Enamel or minor cosmetic flaws

As one options of cosmetic dentistry procedures, direct composite Dental bonding is versatile, correcting any number of problems with your smile. Utilizing a putty-like material that can be shaped and formed in whichever way necessary, direct composite dental bonding is cemented or bonded to the tooth visible surface; the application hidden to the naked eye given the ability of our cosmetic dentist to match said bonding to the color of your entire set of teeth. The end result is a beautiful smile!

What is Cosmetic Dental Bonding?

Dental bonding is the application of a strong, natural-looking resin onto the surface of damaged teeth. Whether your teeth are stained, cracked or mildly misaligned, cosmetic dental bonding can often be used to quickly restore a beautiful smile. The bonding materials act as a replacement for missing enamel and dentin, providing durable protection and enhancement for your teeth. We matches the composite resin to the rest of your teeth to seamlessly blend in and cover any imperfections. Before you know it, you can have the smile you’ve been waiting for!

The Benefits of Cosmetic Dental Bonding

If you’re looking for a quick yet effective fix for minor dental problems, consider the benefits of dental bonding:

• Corrects small cracks and chips
• Improves alignment and spacing issues
• Hides stains or discoloration
• Blends with the rest of your teeth
• Strengthens teeth
• Provides quick results
• Other Benefits are:
  • Covering stains
  • Repairing small fractures
  • Treating sensitive teeth
  • Lightening tooth shade
  • Closing small spaces
  • Making teeth look longer
  • Changing the shape of teeth
  • Protection of a portion of the tooth’s root that has been exposed when gums recede.

The procedure is an extremely versatile solution for improving the look of your smile. In your initial dental exam, we will highlight how the dental bonding procedure can achieve your goals.

The Cosmetic Dental Bonding Procedure

Once an approach is established for reaching your desired results, we will begin the procedure. The surface of your damaged teeth are first prepared with a solution, creating an area ideal for bonding. After the material is color blended to match the rest of your teeth, we layers and sculpts it on the prepared teeth. Once in place, the resin is hardened under a special light for lating results. Finally, we buffs the dental bonding material to reveal a shining, natural-looking new smile.

When is Cosmetic Bonding a Good Solution?

Dental bonding is most often used for minor imperfections of teeth. The most common way dental bonding is used is to fix a chipped or cracked tooth. The dental bonding resin rebuilds the damaged tooth, and seamlessly restores the patient’s smile to its natural state. Before recommending the procedure, we gives a thorough examination of the patient’s mouth and determines the type of bonding to use. Patients who are eligible for dental bonding can expect a swift and painless procedure.

Bonding is an alternative to veneers, and can be used as a restorative procedure for teeth that are chipped, cracked, discoloured or misarranged.

Considerations of Cosmetic Dental Bonding

The bonding procedure can often be completed in a single office visit, and can improve the appearance of a tooth significantly. However, since the plastic resin used is not as strong as your natural tooth enamel, it is more likely to stain, chip or break than natural teeth. Bonding typically lasts three to five years before need of repair.

Here are the detailed pros and cons of bonding versus veneers, crowns and similar options – all of which you should discuss with your dentist to determine whether the treatment is right for you.

Advantages of Cosmetic Dental Bonding

Dental bonding is a great option if you have minor flaws affecting your front teeth. It can be an economical solution for issues such as stained or chipped teeth and is less expensive than porcelain veneers.

Dental bonding is ideal because:

• It can be mixed to match your teeth’s color. The dentists blend composite resin to make the color as closely to the actual color of the patient’s teeth as possible. This makes bonding subtle and esthetically pleasing.
• It’s much cheaper than most dental restorations. Bonding usually costs around $350-$700 depending on the amount of damage, location and the dental practitioner. Compared to veneers and crowns, it is much more affordable. Most insurance policies also cover for dental bonding costs when the dentists use it for fillings or other similar restorations. .
• It can be done in a single clinic visit. Because the treatment does not require impressions of your tooth, you will not need to go back for a second visit. Instead, the dentist can complete the procedure within one or two hours. If you have several teeth that need treatment, it may take longer or the dentist may choose to divide treatment between two appointments. However, for the most part bonding is quick and easy.
• It doesn’t require anaesthetics in most of the time. Bonding doesn’t cause any discomfort, unless the dentists need to clean and fill a cavity. Shallow cavities don’t need anaesthetics, either. If you don’t feel any discomfort while the dentist cleans your infection, you can get bonding without any issues. For deep cavities, dentists often use a local anaesthetic to remove the pain while they extract decay.
• It’s not invasive. Dental bonding doesn’t require any kind of cutting, slicing or any other procedure that can be invasive or scary.
• It preserves healthy tooth material. Unlike crowns and veneers where a some amount of tooth enamel is trimmed off, dental bonding doesn’t require any trimming. As long as the area doesn’t have any decay inside, the dentist can cover it without removing any tooth material aside from minor etching.

Disadvantages of Cosmetic Dental Bonding

• Not as Stain-Resistant. Composite resin doesn’t resist stains like porcelain veneers or crowns do. This pitfall of dental bonding is that the material often used to create the bond isn’t particularly resistant to stains. Composite resin is more porous than tooth enamel or porcelain, so it absorbs a deep-coloured food more easily. If you’re a regular coffee or red-wine drinker, for example, you might notice the bonded tooth discolours more quickly and noticeably than your natural teeth. Limiting coffee, wine and similar foods and drinks is therefore the easiest way to avoid staining the bonding resin. Of course, you don’t need to give up coffee or wine entirely; an equally effective option is to practice good oral care.
• Cracking and chipping. Since the bond is small, it can easily crack if you use your bonded tooth to bite a non-food item. Also use caution if you grind your teeth or eat hard foods because these can cause damage.
• Detaching. In some rare cases, the entire bond detaches from the treated tooth because of trauma, impact and strong biting force. If this occurs, dentists can place a new filling or bond.
• Coverage. If used on big surfaces, the bond is more likely to crack or deform. This is why dentists do not recommend dental bonding for big problems like multiple lost teeth, large fractures that expose the pulp or as caps for root canal treated teeth.
• Not as Durable. The material used in teeth bonding is made of a special type of plastic called composite resin. It’s a strong material, but the resin isn’t as durable as your natural tooth enamel, nor is it as hardy as the porcelain used in veneers or dental crowns. When you receive a dental bond, you’ll need to be particularly careful about eating and biting down on hard foods to avoid chipping or breaking the bond. If the edge of the bonded teeth feels rough or jagged, or if you notice any unevenness when you bite, it’s a good idea to call your dentist and have him or her take a look at the treated tooth. He or she may need to file down the bond or replace it altogether.
• Not as Long-Lasting. Keep in mind because teeth bonding isn’t as resilient as its alternatives, it usually has a shorter shelf life as well. You can expect a bond to last anywhere from three to seven years. How well you take care of your teeth and gums alongside your regular lifestyle habits play a big part in determining the life of the bond.

Other Options to Consider

Any of these teeth bonding disadvantages can be a deal-breaker. If you find that the drawbacks of dental bonding do outweigh the positives, you can always consider other options. A dental crown or Porcelain Veneer is a great choice in the event that a broken tooth needs to be fully restored, or if a tooth has a cavity that is too large to correct with a filling. Your main concern may even be correcting discolored teeth or changing the shape or alignment of slightly crooked teeth, in which case veneers are also a good solution. Veneers are typically made of porcelain and are attached to the front of your teeth.

Choosing between dental bonding and other restorative options is often a matter of cost and convenience. Whereas bonding is more delicate than a crown or set of veneers, it’s also a lot of less expensive. You typically need just a single appointment for bonding, and the process usually takes less than one hour per tooth. In contrast, veneers and crowns cost more upfront and often require multiple trips to the dentist. The trade-off is that they will withstand stains and hard objects much more easily, allowing them to last a lot longer than your typical composite resin.