Naperville Tooth Bonding

There are two types of cosmetic dentistry: direct and indirect. Tooth bonding is a direct technique, where the cosmetic dentist applies materials directly to your tooth and shapes them to imitate the natural tooth in form, color, and texture. Indirect cosmetic dentistry is work that is made in a laboratory, such as a porcelain crown or porcelain veneers.

Dr. Blair generally uses tooth bonding for smaller defects in one or two teeth. When you need a complete smile makeover, she will do porcelain veneers or crowns which will be made in a laboratory according to her smile design prescription.

Tooth bonding can correct a gap between your front teeth and can cover spots, chips, and discoloration, can restore broken front teeth, and can re-shape teeth.

Tooth bonding requires artistic ability, since the work is done freehand, "at the chair," with no outside help. Colors need to be matched and blended, and the tooth must be shaped, finished, and polished to a beautiful final result. For this reason, many dentists don't like to do direct tooth bonding. Here is an example of a case that is a typical tooth bonding case. This patient has one broken front tooth. To repair this, Dr. Blair will roughen the surface of the tooth near the break and then adhere the composite to the tooth.

The composite is matched perfectly to the tooth in both color and translucency, and when polished has the same luster. If you look at the tooth closely, you will see that there is a band of very light color right at the biting edge. Above that there is a more translucent zone, and above that there is a blend of colors fading into the tooth, so that you can't tell where the repair ends and the tooth begins.