Dental BondingAug 07 2013

What is dental bonding?

It’s only natural to want a nice smile.  Some say that a person is ten times more beautiful when they smile. But, what if your teeth are chipped, uneven, misaligned or discolored?  In this case, you want to fix that problem and get a perfect smile.  And that’s where dental bonding comes into the picture.

Dental bonding is a simple procedure used by dentists to fix a damaged tooth. What problems can dental bonding solve? Dental bonding is used to fill a decayed tooth, to repair chipped or cracked teeth, to fill the spaces between the teeth and to improve the aspect of discolored teeth.

How does a dentist do it? Well, it’s quite simple. Basically, a dental composite made out of resin or plastic is used as a filling and then bonded to your teeth to correct any of the above mentioned imperfections.

There are two types of dental bonding: direct and indirect. Direct dental bonding is the classic dental bonding. Indirect dental bonding is what’s commonly known as “porcelain veneers” or ceramic coverings.

There are a couple of differences between these two procedures. First, in dental bonding, plastic or composite materials are used.  With veneers, porcelain or ceramic is used. Needless to say, there is a cost difference between the two, the latter option being more expensive.

The time used also differs. For dental bonding there’s only one visit required, while for porcelain veneers more visits are usually required as the veneers themselves need to be prepared by a lab before being bonded to your teeth.

Another advantage of direct dental bonding is that unlike bonding with veneers, the dentist doesn’t need to file away some of your enamel, which means that your tooth is going to have more of its integrity kept intact. With veneers this is a must, but keep in mind that once this is done, you can’t go back to not wearing veneers as the tooth is more sensitive without some of the enamel to protect it.

Naturally, the choice is ultimately yours. Keep in mind that your dentist can help you decide the best alternative to fix your dental problems.