Did you know that after your eyes, the second thing people notice when they meet you for the first time is your smile? Have you ever thought about improving your smile to create a great first impression but aren't very keen to wear braces or want to avoid porcelain veneers or crowns? Cosmetic bonding using tooth coloured composite filling material may be the solution for you.
As we prefer to be as minimally invasive as possible, we often avoid drilling and use air abrasion instead. This roughens the tooth surface to make it more suitable for bonding the composite material. We can then assess the shade of your tooth to get the best match of composite. The composite is then built up in layers to the desired shape.
Here are some advantages of composite bonding:
- can often be done in one visit
- sometimes no injection is needed
- less tooth structure needs to be removed so it is a minimally invasive treatment
- much less expensive than porcelain veneers or crowns
- can be repaired more easily than porcelain
- can be used as a prototype which is easily modified before deciding on a final colour and shape for porcelain crowns or veneers
and these are some of the disadvantages:
- composite can stain or chip more easily than porcelain
- composite is not as strong or wear resistant as porcelain
However, composite bonding is a very useful method for improving the shape and colour of teeth and should you wish to eventually switch to porcelain it will have served as a good medium-term solution.
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