How Does Dental Bonding differ From Dental Fillings?

Various things such as genetics, dietary habits and facial trauma do have a tendency to cause your teeth to become stained, broken and chipped. Experts at Atlanta Emergency Dentists Center suggest that while not all of these factors affect the functionality of your teeth, they can still harm your smile’s appearance. Cavities or better termed as tooth decay can be the result of a variety of factors. Also, experts at Atlanta offering emergency dental services found out that cavities don’t heal themselves or go away with time. They usually only get worse with time if they are left untreated by a dentist. A dental filling is known to repair the damage that has already been done to a tooth. In other cases, tooth-colored filling material can be bonded to a tooth allowing cosmetic dental applications, also known as dental or cosmetic bonding.

Why do we need a dental filling?

Once the process of tooth decay starts, it must be treated immediately. It usually only gets worse with time as stated above. An abscess or pus-filled sac from a cavity can cause serious or even life-threatening infections and other issues in patients when not properly treated. If a cavity advances beyond what a dental filling can repair, then there may be the need for more expensive dental surgery or treatments like root canals and crowns. It is much simpler and more affordable to treat an early decay than to fix a badly decayed tooth.

What is a dental filling?

In the modern era, the majority of dental fillings are done using dental composite resin or tooth-colored fillings that are usually able to be shaded to match the color of your natural teeth. Composite resin is a combination of a mixture of glass or quartz filler that provides good durability and resistance to fracture in small- to midsize fillings that needs to withstand heavy pressure from mouth activities. As per an Atlanta traditional dentures specialist, these dental fillings are then bonded to the tooth. Whereas in early days, these dental fillings were done using dental amalgam which is also sometimes described as silver fillings. These particular dental fillings are made from a combination of metals that specifically include mercury, silver, tin and copper. Amalgam is a durable material and is cheaper than the tooth-colored fillings. But however, tooth-colored materials are more natural looking, possess improved bonding abilities and they can even seal the tooth.

What is dental bonding and how can it help?

Dental bonding can be defined as a popular and easy solution for some of the aesthetic dental concerns including gaps, chips and length issues. Dental or cosmetic bonding works by using a tooth-colored bonding agent to improve the look of the tooth. The bonding agent should be durable and long lasting and thus a synthetic resin is used and carefully etched over the tooth. It is furthermore sculpted into the right shape. Once the dental bonding is applied, the resin is hardened using a specialized light. According to orthodontists  specializing in Atlanta cosmetic dentistry the hardened resin is then trimmed, shaped and polished until it complements the natural color and proportions of your natural smile. 

Dental bonding thus can be used to:

  • Whiten the teeth or correct discoloration.
  • Reshape broken or chipped teeth.
  • Plus sizes shorter teeth to improve smile symmetry.
  • Restoring the tooth after decay.

How does it work?

The dental bonding techniques and materials have improved much significantly in recent years. A dependable bond between tooth and filling material can be expected when the procedure is followed carefully by your Orthodontist.

  • First process is when the tooth surfaces are roughened after decayed parts of the tooth and are cleaned or removed. 
  • Moving on to next, the dental team including dentist and assistants isolates the tooth with cotton rolls to keep the tooth dry during the process. 
  • The exposed surfaces such as both enamel and dentin are then conditioned with an etchant gel to create microscopic pores in the tooth structure. 
  • A primer or adhesive resin liquid is then scrubbed onto the surfaces when it penetrates deep into these microscopic pores. 
  • A special UV light is then used to cure this adhesive resin. 
  • Finally, the tooth-colored putty-like material also known as composite resin is applied, molded  and then smoothed to the final shape. 
  • Again, the special Ultraviolet light is used but this time to make the tooth-colored resin more hardened. 
  • After the material gets hardened, the dentist will further trim, shape and polish it to match the sculpture of the rest of the tooth surface.

Bottomline: We should take a note here that the results after dental bonding is applied, are semi-permanent and can last for up to a period of 10 years, thus making this an effective and long-lasting solution for a variety of aesthetic dental issues for patients all around the world.