Am I A Candidate For Dental Bonding?

Teeth with chips, cracks, gaps and other bad looks can make even the happiest person unwilling to smile. If you live in the Glen Waverly area and want to make your teeth look shiny and complete again, you might be a candidate for dental bonding.

Dental bonding means applying, fitting and drying into place a tooth-colored resin material to cover up flaws in your teeth. If you have certain cosmetic imperfections to your teeth and smile, dental bonding at EK Dental Surgery might be just the thing to optimise your smile.

Indications Dental Bonding Might be for You

Dental bonding may be right for you in the following cases:

  • Discolored Teeth: Yellowed, discolored teeth (no matter how badly stained) can be made a bright white with dental bonding. Dental bonding is especially useful if you have not been able to achieve a desired level of whitening with professional whitening treatment.
  • Minor Cavities: Small cavities can be repaired with dental bonding. Dental bonding is perfect for treating minor decay of the front teeth as it creates a seamless blend with the surrounding teeth. It can also be used to protect portions of tooth root that have been exposed when gums recede.
  • Minor Chips or Fractures: Small imperfections like fractures or chips can be repaired with dental bonding. Repairing small cracks and chips is important to prevent the damage from progressing and to improve the appearance of your smile.
  • Gaps Between Teeth: If you are unhappy with gaps between your teeth, dental bonding can be used to close them.
  • Misshaped Teeth: The appearance of irregularly shaped teeth can be improved with dental bonding. Since the resin used in dental bonding is individually shaped to each tooth, teeth can be reshaped to proper proportions.
  • Small or Large Teeth: The size of both small and large teeth can be improved with dental bonding reshaping.

Other advantages of Dental Bonding include:

  • It is reversible: One of the reasons that some patients are hesitant to have porcelain veneers placed on their teeth is that a thin layer of enamel must be removed from your teeth before veneers are applied. This means that teeth can never again be uncovered. Dental bonding does not require any alteration of the natural tooth and is a completely reversible procedure.
  • It is economical: Although dental bonding is slightly less natural looking than porcelain veneers, it is also less expensive. The results are still stunning, but the bonding material is not translucent, unlike porcelain and natural tooth enamel.
The Dental Bonding Procedure
Before dental bonding

Your Glen Waverley dentist will use a shade guide to select the composite resin color that will match the color of the tooth most closely.

Once your dentist has chosen the color, the surface of the teeth will be abraded. The tooth will be coated lightly with a conditioning liquid, which helps the bonding material adhere.

When the tooth is prepared, your dentist applies the tooth-colored, putty-like resin. The resin is molded and smoothed until it is tooth-shaped, then hardened with an ultraviolet light or laser.

After the bonding material hardens, your dentist will trim and shape it to make it look like a natural tooth surface. Then he or she will polish the material until it matches the sheen of the rest of the tooth surface.

It usually takes about 30 minutes to an hour to complete the procedure. If you’re having more than one tooth done, you may need multiple visits.

Dental Bonding Aftercare

Along with having a healthy mouth going into the procedure, it’s crucial to practice good dental behavior once our teeth are bonded. To maintain the color of the resin your dentist matched to your teeth, avoid the following for 48 hours after dental bonding:

  • Beverages that stain teeth, like coffee and tea
  • Stain-causing foods, such as berries and richly colored sauces
  • Smoking; in addition to the many health risks posed by tobacco use, it can stain teeth and composite materials in the mouth

With proper care, the composite material used in dental bonding can last from 3 to 10 years. To get that kind of lifespan from your dental bonding, steer clear of bad habits like:

  • Chewing hard food items such as ice cubes, sucking candies, popcorn kernels, fruit pits, etc.
  • Biting fingernails
  • Gnawing on pens and pencils
  • Opening packaging materials with your teeth

It’s important to continue practicing good oral hygiene and maintain a checkup schedule with your dentist after dental bonding. EK Dental Surgery can not only give your teeth a professional cleaning, but ensure that dental bonding is keeping your smile spectacular.

Reasons to Smile at EK Dental Surgery!

EK Dental Surgery offers a wide range of preventative and cosmetic dental procedures for children, seniors, and everyone in between! At EK Dental Surgery we can help you achieve maximal dental health and a movie-star smile!

EK Dental Surgery is conveniently located on Springvale Road in Glen Waverley.

Call us on (03) 9887 8787 or request your appointment online today!

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