What Is Dental Bonding?
Dental bonding employs composite resin, identical to the material in composite fillings, to mold a tooth. Whether chipped, cracked, or broken, teeth can be rejuvenated using this composite resin through a method termed Bonded Restoration. With regular maintenance, this restoration can sustain its pristine condition for an extended period. Additionally, dental bonding serves as an aesthetic solution, allowing for tooth reshaping, colour correction, and gap closure, eliminating the need for veneers or orthodontics.
How Does Dental Bonding Stack Up Against Other Treatments?
When it comes to enhancing or restoring your teeth, there’s a plethora of options to choose from. The ideal choice hinges on your unique needs. During your consultation, we’re eager to guide you through all available alternatives, detailing the advantages and drawbacks of each, to facilitate your informed decision. Here, however, we outline some notable perks of dental bonding:
Economical
While treatments like veneers and orthodontics often command a higher price due to their intricate nature and significant results, dental bonding emerges as an affordable remedy for subtle modifications on a few teeth.
Ideal for Minor Touch-ups
To reiterate, those seeking extensive smile transformations might find themselves better suited with treatments like veneers, crowns, or orthodontics. Yet, for subtle tweaks, dental bonding stands out as the most straightforward option.
Understanding the Dental Bonding Procedure
Regardless of whether you’re opting for dental bonding for restoration or aesthetic enhancement, the procedure remains consistent. Here’s a breakdown of what unfolds during a dental bonding session:
Tooth Preparation
Initially, a dental matrix – a slim plastic film – is placed around the neighbouring teeth to safeguard them from any incidental contact with the preparation gel or composite resin. Once in place, the dentist meticulously cleans and dries the target tooth. A mildly acidic gel is then applied briefly to create a textured surface, ensuring the bonding adheres securely.
Composite Resin Application
After removing the acidic gel and drying the tooth again, it’s time for the composite resin. The dentist selects a shade that seamlessly blends with your natural teeth, ensuring an inconspicuous finish. The resin is added layer by layer, with each one cured using a specialized blue light to enhance its resilience and longevity.
Refinements
With the bonding in place and your bite assessed, you’re almost done. The dentist provides a finishing touch by polishing the bonded area, leaving it gleaming and indistinguishable from your natural teeth. In fact, it might be challenging to recall which tooth underwent the procedure! For our records, we’ll annotate it in your file. In subsequent check-ups, extra attention will be paid to the bonded area to monitor its condition.
Pricing Of Dental Bonding In Burlington
The application and reasons for dental bonding are so diverse that pinpointing a precise cost without a personal evaluation can be challenging. Generally speaking, without insurance, dental bonding ranges from about $300 to $600 or possibly more per tooth. Many insurance plans do cover dental bonding, especially if it’s essential for repairing a damaged or broken tooth. If covered, you might be looking at an out-of-pocket expense of roughly $60 to $120.
The cost assessment for your dental bonding takes into account several critical elements:
- The number of teeth that require bonding.
- The necessity for new x-rays.
- The quantity of composite resin needed for the procedure.
- The specific location of the teeth in your mouth.
- The current state of your oral health.
It’s crucial to note that an over-the-phone price quote can’t capture all the specifics of your situation. We advocate for an in-person examination, after which we’d be more than happy to present a detailed cost breakdown, empowering you to make an informed choice.
Contact us today
to schedule an initial consultation & exam.
Your consultation will include an examination of everything from your teeth, gums and soft tissues to the shape and condition of your bite. Generally, we want to see how your whole mouth looks and functions. Before we plan your treatment we want to know everything about the health and aesthetic of your smile, and, most importantly, what you want to achieve so we can help you get there.
Frequently Asked Questions
The longevity of dental bonding can vary, typically lasting between 4 to 10 years or even longer, influenced by the precise placement of the bonding, your dietary habits, and consistent oral care practices. If wear and tear are observed during your regular dental check-ups, additional composite resin can be added to ensure the continued strength of the dental bonding.
While bonding might not be a permanent fix, it’s certainly durable. With consistent dental maintenance, mindful eating habits, and periodic check-ups, dental bonding can endure well over a decade. Should any signs of wear surface on the bonding, it can be reinforced with extra composite resin.
Both are distinct procedures. Dental veneers offer a more enduring solution and are preferable for individuals seeking significant or dramatic smile enhancements. On the other hand, dental bonding might not last as long but is a cost-effective choice for subtle modifications. Additionally, dental bonding is less invasive, requiring minimal alteration to the natural tooth.
Dental bonding is generally a low-risk procedure. The integrity of your natural tooth is preserved, remaining largely, if not entirely, untouched beneath the bonding. While the bonding material may experience chipping or breaking as time progresses, it’s conveniently repairable. A frequent query we encounter is that dental bonding doesn’t respond to teeth whitening treatments. If you’re considering teeth whitening, it might be beneficial to do so before the bonding process. Alternatively, post-whitening, the bonding can be replaced to align with the enhanced shade of your teeth. If durability is a primary concern, you might contemplate opting for dental veneers or crowns, both of which offer superior strength and longevity.
