RESTORE OR REPLACE: NEW LIFE FOR YOUR DAMAGED TOOTH

Hello friends of Southern York Smile Care! As the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat (although I don’t know anyone who would want to). Likewise, there is more than one way to fix a tooth. If you are the lucky owner of a set of perfectly healthy teeth, you may never need any of these procedures. However, if you are like most Pennsylvania residents, you will probably need to restore a tooth eventually. Today’s post looks at six restoration procedures that are used routinely to repair damaged teeth.

Porcelain Veneers

These wafer-thin covers can hide a chip or crack or correct the alignment of a tooth that is slightly crooked.

A Filling, Inlay, or Onlay

This procedure has been used to restore teeth for over a century though the materials and techniques have advanced. One fairly new option is white filling replacement for metal fillings. A traditional filling is shaped and molded after it is applied to the tooth. Because inlays and onlays are produced in a dental lab, they are generally called indirect fillings. Inlays are applied to just the center of the biting surface of a tooth (not to a cusp or point) and are often smaller than onlays. An onlay restores one or more cusps of a tooth.

Dental Bonding

Bonding, officially called direct composite veneers, is used to repair chips, cracks, stains, and make teeth longer. It is also sometimes used to fill cavities. A skilled cosmetic dentist applies pliable composite resin and molds it to the precise shape necessary. The resin is then hardenend with a special curing light.

A Dental Crown

A crown replaces the entire visible portion of the tooth, restoring appearance, strength, and function. Dental crowns are used for teeth that have had a root canal, teeth with acute decay, the replacement tooth in a dental bridge, and the visible portion of a dental implant. Crowns can be made of all metal (such as gold), porcelain-fused-to-metal, all ceramic, or all resin.

Dental Implants

Many dentists consider a tooth implant to be the ultimate restoration because it restores the entire tooth – both root and crown. Most dental implant recipients report that the implant is indistinguishable from a natural tooth. Another boon is the fact that an implant can prohibit bone recession which is common at an extraction site. Dental implants are used in a variety of applications such as anchoring dentures and dental bridges.

For more information about any of these procedures, call Southern York Smile Care at 717-235-3871.