7 Ways To Fix A Tooth

In a perfect world, each of your precious teeth would stay healthy, strong, and brilliantly white throughout your life. The truth is, however, that most people will need to restore a tooth at some point. At Premier Dental Esthetics – Peter S. Young, DDS in Arcadia, we can help restore your teeth.

Tooth decay, enamel erosion, a chip or crack, gum disease, or injury can affect your teeth. Sometimes old restorations break and need to be replaced or root canals performed decades ago develop an abscess.

Here are 7 different options for repairing a damaged tooth:

Dental Bonding

We use bonding, officially called direct composite veneers, to fix minor cosmetic troubles – small chips, cracks, discoloration, and spaces between teeth. Our skilled cosmetic dentist will apply moldable tooth-colored composite resin and shapes as desired. We then cure the resin with a special light to harden and adhere tightly to the tooth. Composite bonding is ordinarily the most economical option for improving healthy teeth with minor cosmetic issues.

Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain veneers are wafer-thin tooth-shaped fronts that are pvermanently bonded to your natural teeth. We use them when the underlying tooth is structurally sound and free of cavities. A beautiful veneer can cover a chip or crack or correct the alignment of a tooth that appears slightly off kilter as compared to surrounding teeth.

Fillings

Modern white fillings are strong and inconspicuous. When we fill your teeth, we prefer to create a minimally invasive filling which leaves you with more of nature’s ideal dental material — your own enamel and dentin. We can also replace old amalgam fillings with white fillings. This makes your teeth look a lot better every time you open your mouth. Get rid of all that metal!

Inlays and Onlays

We create traditional fillings by shaping and molding it after it is applied to the tooth. Our dental lab will create inlays and onlays, which are frequently called indirect fillings. We can use an inlay or onlay instead of a traditional filling or, in some cases, a crown. We will apply inlays to just the center of the biting surface of a tooth (not to a cusp or point) and they are typically smaller than onlays. An onlay restores one or more cusps of a tooth.

Crowns

A crown replaces the entire visible portion of the tooth, restoring appearance, durability, and function. If you have a root canal, you may need a crown. We will attach a crown to an abutment as the final step of a tooth implant procedure.

Soft Tissue Grafts

Gum recession puts teeth and underlying bone at risk. Soft tissue grafting can cover the exposed root of a tooth to prohibit further damage. We can also perform gum surgery for cosmetic reasons such as reshaping a gumline to eliminate a “gummy” smile.

Dental Implants

Sometimes we have to extract a tooth because it is beyond saving. For many patients, a dental implant anchored into the bone is the ideal solution. A tooth implant consists of a strong metal post (artificial root), abutment (connecting piece), and beautiful crown. A dental implant has many advantages over a dental bridge. They are stronger, provide virtually natural function, prohibit bone recession, and do not influence the surrounding teeth. For patients with multiple missing teeth, customized implant-anchored dentures can be designed in any configuration necessary.

The team at Premier Dental Esthetics in Arcadia would love to talk to you about bonding, veneers, dental restorative work, and other smile makeover possibilities. We offer general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, family dentistry, orthodontics and a long list of other procedures. Call us today for an appointment.