Cosmetic Dental Bonding Can Save Your Smile
Cosmetic dental bonding is a dentistry technique used to improve the appearance of your teeth. The actual bonding material is a synthetic plastic resin that when combined with a hardening agent and “cured” creates a long lasting, new surface for your teeth.
It can be used to close gap between the teeth, lengthen or reshape chipped or broken teeth, and whiten stains on your teeth. Bonding can be applied to a single tooth or many teeth as required by your particluar circumstance. This kind of work is usually done in a single dental appointment.
Dental bonding typically takes less than an hour per tooth and starts with your dentist matching the resin color with your tooth color. Then a little roughening of the surface and a liquid bonding agent to insure the resin sticks to your tooth. Then the resin is applied to the tooth and molded it into the desired shape.
A laser or ultraviolet light hardens the resin onto the tooth’s surface. Lastly, the resin is smoothed and shaped then polished until it matches the rest of the tooth.
Dental bonding can be used for many things, such as repairing cavities and chipped teeth or to cover over discolored teeth and even close gaps between the teeth. It can be used to make a tooth look longer (even vampire teeth) or to make a more attracive shape. It’s often used to cover the root in the case of receding gums.
There are pluses and minuses with dental bonding as there is with any procedure. Bonding is easy and less expensive than other treatments. This is a simple office procedure, no fancy laboratory for creating tooth coverings. Also dental bonding usually doesn’t require the use of anesthesia, except for repairing cavities. More of the original tooth is left with dental bonding unlike the involved and more expensive choices veneers or crowns.
The downside is that the bonding material can chip since it is not as durable or long lasting as those used with fillings or crowns. Also bonding is less stain resistant than other choices. But with lower costs and ease of repair dental bonding is a good choice, especially for smaller changes.
