What Dental Bonding Can Do for You
Dental bonding is a versatile cosmetic dentistry procedure. It can be used to correct common smile concerns such as:
- Chipped teeth
- Small teeth
- Poorly shaped teeth
- Gaps between teeth
With dental bonding, it’s easy to repair a small chip in your teeth. This can help your smile look whole again. Dental bonding can also build up small or poorly shaped teeth so they match your other teeth and look more attractive.
Dental bonding is also a great way to close a gap between your teeth. It works by extending the teeth on either side of the gap, so in some cases, your teeth might already be too wide for this to be an attractive solution. In that case, we would recommend orthodontics to close the gap.
How Dental Bonding Works
Dental bonding is similar to the composite resin that we use for tooth-colored dental fillings. It starts out as a malleable putty, which means that it can be made into any shape that cosmetic dentist Dr. Skowronski can create. Then it hardens under a special light catalyst, which turns it into a tooth-like restoration.
The first step in applying dental bonding means removing any damaged or weakened tooth enamel. Then Dr. Skowronski will apply a light acid wash to roughen the surface of your tooth. This helps the bonding to hold in place. Then Dr. Skowronski will shape the material so it looks like a natural, attractive tooth. Once he’s achieved the look he wants, we will shine the special hardening light on the bonding, causing it to harden. Sometimes with larger sections of bonding, we have to apply the bonding and the light successively to make sure the bonding fully hardens.
Once the final shape is achieved, we will polish the bonding, giving it a shine like natural tooth enamel.
Benefits of Dental Bonding
Dental bonding is a popular cosmetic dentistry procedure because it offers many benefits, including:
- Can be completed in a single visit
- Gives attractive results
- Inexpensive
With dental bonding, Dr. Skowronski can usually give you the results you want with just a single visit. You can come in with a damaged smile and leave with one that looks beautiful. The results are very natural and hard to detect. You’d have to point out which was the treated tooth or teeth, and even then many people won’t see it.
For many people, dental bonding’s best benefit is that it is inexpensive, costing just a fraction of what procedures like veneers or crowns cost. Sometimes people try dental bonding as a test procedure before they decide to commit to longer-term treatments.
Limitations of Dental Bonding
However, dental bonding is not always the best choice for your cosmetic dentistry. Dental bonding’s limits include:
- Best for small problems
- Loses polish and becomes discolored
- Can wear out or break
- Doesn’t last long
Dental bonding is not very strong, which is why it is usually only used for small dental problems. Even in these situations, it can lose its attractive appearance as it loses its polish or becomes discolored. It can also wear down easily or break off.
As a result, dental bonding doesn’t last very long, just a few years, as opposed to porcelain veneers, which can easily last decades, or orthodontics, whose results can last a lifetime.
Interested in Fixing Your Smile with Dental Bonding?
If you have small cosmetic problems with your smile that you think might benefit from dental bonding, cosmetic dentist Dr. Skowronski can help. Please call (586) 977-8413 today for an appointment at Skowronski Family Dentistry in Sterling Heights, MI.
