Dental Bonding Although your teeth are naturally sturdy, helping you chew and smile for most of your life, if the enamel is damaged, it can create problems such as tooth cavities. Teeth bonding involves applying a resin material and hardening it with a special light to allow it to bond to the tooth. Bonding corrects several complications, including a gap between your teeth, correct chipped or cracked teeth, discoloration, and decay, and protecting exposed roots. The procedure helps restore and improve your smile. A visit to our dental office at 253 Dental Care allows our team to examine your teeth and determine if bonding is an appropriate treatment. When is Bonding Necessary?Dental bonding is a suitable choice if you need to repair decayed teeth. Our dentist will apply a composite resin to fill cavities. You may need bonding if you have chipped or cracked teeth. People needing to improve the look of discolored teeth can consider teeth bonding. Additionally, our dental team may use bonding to close spaces appearing between teeth or make your teeth look longer. In situations where a portion of the root of your tooth is exposed following gum recession, tooth bonding may be an option. The ProcedureCosmetic bonding, unlike veneers, takes a short period. For example, visiting our dental office to bond one or more teeth will take you a few hours. During your first visit to our dental office, you will only be required to come with clean and flossed teeth. No major preparation is needed before you get dental bonding. Our dentist may not use anesthesia unless the bonding procedure is used to fill cavities or decayed teeth. If the tooth has to be drilled to help change its shape or if there is a chip near the nerve, anesthesia may be administered. Often, our dentist uses a shade guide to help find a composite resin color closely matching the color of your natural teeth. The resin is putty-like and molds in the desired shape. Our specialist will apply a conditioning fluid that will help the resin to stick to your teeth. The dentist will finally smoothen out the resin until it feels natural and smooth. The process will take 30 minutes to one hour for each tooth, depending on how much work is needed. Caring for Bonded TeethDue to the normal use of your teeth, or through accidents, it is possible for the bonding material to chip. Thus you should avoid habits like chewing on pens and hard food objects or biting fingernails. Do not use the bonded teeth to aid you to tear things open. The presence of sharp edges on the bonded tooth or a tooth that feels odd after you bite down should prompt you to call our office. Apart from good oral hygiene, you may not need any special care for your bonded teeth. Just brush twice a day and floss at least one time a day. Use antiseptic mouthwash to rinse your mouth. You will need to schedule regular checkups as well as cleanings with our dental team. The resin does not resist long-term staining as your enamel does. You are likely to have long-term discoloration if you consume lots of red wine and coffee or if you smoke. Sadly, you cannot whiten composite resin. That being said, it is possible to have teeth whitening when you have a bond. The whitening gels will not harm the resin, however, there will be a disparity in color. So, avoid staining the resin as well as teeth by limiting foods and beverages or habits like smoking that tend to stain teeth. Benefits of BondingCosmetic bonding helps improve the appearance of your smile and gives your teeth a uniform look. It is less expensive and easier to perform compared to dental procedures like veneers and crowns. Additionally, it requires little amount of enamel removal. And you may not even need anesthesia unless you are getting bonding to fill a cavity. If you want to regain your confidence and restore your smile, feel free to visit us at 253 Dental Care. You can also call us at (253) 838-9333 to find out more about dental bonding. |
