Cosmetic Bonding
The best cosmetic solution isn’t always the most expensive!
Cosmetic bonding is a fantastic way to add beauty and dimension to your existing teeth when crowns or veneers are more of a change than you want or need. We pride ourselves on the artistry and skill it takes to create beautiful, natural-looking results for you with bonding.
Cosmetic bonding is when we use composite material on the surface of your tooth to change the size, shape, and color. Like porcelain veneers, we can use bonding to reshape or repair a single tooth or rebuild and reshape several teeth to give you a pleasing, uniform smile.
Cosmetic bonding is a perfect choice if you have:
- Small defects in your teeth you want corrected
- Areas you would like to look fuller, more prominent, or more rounded
- Discoloration
- Small cracks or chips
- Small gaps between teeth (also known as black triangles)
- Exposed roots at your gum line due to recession
- Minor spacing between your teeth
We can also use bonding to rebuild a broken tooth if the damage isn’t severe, or to temporarily rebuild a broken tooth in a child or teenager who is too young to have a permanent crown restoration.
The Advantages
Once we’ve determined that cosmetic bonding is the right procedure for you, the advantages add up!
- We can often complete a “mini smile makeover” for you in a single visit.
- Your cost is less expensive than for lab-made veneers or crowns.
- Your teeth do not require the same preparation for bonding as for crowns and veneers.
- An anesthetic may not be necessary, depending on the surface and depth of the area we’re bonding.
- Depending on the procedure, your dental insurance may cover a percentage of the cost.
The Procedure
If you desire whiter teeth, we’ll first recommend an in-office ZOOM WhiteSpeed session to bring your natural teeth to their lightest possible shade.
- The first part of bonding involves etching your tooth surface to roughen it. Then we’ll lightly coat it with a conditioning liquid that helps the bonding material adhere.
- Next, we’ll apply the tooth-colored bonding material (also called composite or resin) to your tooth and then mold and smooth it into the proper shape.
- Then we harden the material using a laser or ultraviolet light.
- Once the bonding material hardens, we’ll shape it and trim it further.
- For the final step, we’ll polish the material until it matches the sheen and surface of your natural tooth.
We can’t say enough about the advantages of modern dentistry. Our favorite material for bonding is Omnichroma, a ground-breaking new composite material that combines with the reflected color of your surrounding teeth to create a perfect shade match!
After Care
We want you to take good care of your newly bonded teeth.
If we’ve bonded your front (anterior) teeth, we’ll want you to wear a custom night guard to protect your teeth while sleeping. Our lab will fabricate a custom-designed night guard to fit over your newly bonded teeth.