Dental Bonding Procedure to Mask and Enhance Minor Teeth Imperfections

The dental bonding procedure was first made known as a dental restoration technique for the purpose of creating white fillings for the front teeth. Over the years, it now embraces other dental procedures such as simple tooth repair, minor cosmetic enhancements, to correct cosmetic defects temporarily, to repair the teeth where the bite pressure is low, to repair damaged and cracked teeth, enhance teeth discoloration, give the teeth a longer look or a different shape, a cosmetic substitute for amalgam fillings, and shield an exposed tooth root. It is the easiest because it can be done in one dental visit no matter how many teeth are to be treated and takes about 30 minutes to an hour to finish as opposed to veneers and crowns which are made according to specifications and done in a laboratory.  It is the least costly cosmetic procedure ranging from $100 to $400 per tooth that can last for at least up to ten years.  Unless it’s used as a dental filling where you need anesthetics, it’s a painless procedure and only the least amount of enamel is taken out.

Most dentists use tooth bonding technique in so many different ways to address a variety of dental concerns in combination with cosmetic enhancements such as placing a veneer over a stained teeth to give it a new look. It could be to fill in a gap, where in the tooth-colored putty-like resin substance is molded and shaped, matched closely to the tooth color, inured with a laser or ultraviolet light and adhered in between the patient’s teeth. Not only those, dentists also use it to mask some minor imperfections such as cracked, defaced, or imperfectly aligned teeth. The reason why tooth bonding became a favorite for minor dental cosmetic procedures until now is because the dental composite comes in a variety of white shades that easily and closely match tooth color making it less obtrusive even if placed as filling for the back teeth.

Bonded teeth need not require special care, but they still need to be taken care of. To start with, the best practice is still observing the basic oral hygiene such as brushing and flossing; regular trips to the dentist for prophylaxis, check-ups and consultations. The next best care is to refrain from chewing on pens and hard objects, nail-biting, or using them as a bottle opener, for it can easily chip off and also break the bonded tooth off.

When it comes to cosmetic dental enhancements, especially when caught between two options, whether to go for dental bonding to create tooth veneers or porcelain veneers, gauge them through these comparisons.

1.    While porcelain veneer seem to be natural than veneer using dental bonding, it has a glass-like property allowing light to pass through diffusely to mime the sheen of the tooth enamel. In cosmetic tooth bonding, the dental composite is impenetrable, so the luster is not mimicked rather completely.

2.    Porcelain is stain resistant than the plastic used for tooth bonding veneer.

3.    Porcelain is not annealed and irreparable, while dental composite veneers are reparable if they break off.

4.     Greater maintenance is required of dental composite veneers.

Although the cosmetic end results for both procedures can be perfectly achieved, of course, it doesn’t go without saying that there are also flaws to think about.