What Can Dental Bonding Do For My Smile?

Here’s more about who qualifies for this procedure and how it can benefit you.

Confirming Your Candidacy for Dental Bonding

The dental bonding procedure is ideal for patients who have minor cracks, chips, or gaps in their smile. Smaller restorations like these are best served by bonding and should be cosmetic in nature. If you have a tooth that is more severely damaged, our dentists will need to turn to a restorative form of treatment like dental crowns. 

Want imperfections corrected but not sure about going all the way and choosing porcelain veneers? Dental bonding is a great compromise that still allows for beautiful, seamless results. It’s also more cost effective and may not require any enamel removal compared to other types of cosmetic procedures which means dental bonding is technically reversible. 

When Performed, Dental Bonding Can:

1. Be Completed Relatively Quickly 

One of the major advantages of dental bonding is how little time it takes to complete the procedure. Depending on how many teeth are being bonded, it can take our dentists anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. By comparison, veneers require multiple visits to our Cadillac dental office.

Other cosmetic options, while they may still benefit you, tend to cost more than dental bonding. If you’re looking to close a small gap or fix a chipped tooth and feel veneers are a bit excessive for your needs, bonding may be right for you. 

2. Help You Retain More of Your Natural Enamel

Veneers and dental crowns both involve a more intensive process. This often equates to the removal of more of your tooth enamel. If this were a contest, bonding would win as it requires the least amount (if any) taken off.

Tooth enamel is what you see covering the outside of your teeth. Made up of a high percentage of minerals that enable its strength, enamel protects the more sensitive layers of teeth underneath. When removed, enamel for procedures, it doesn’t grow back.

Essentially, this means that your teeth are permanently altered with veneers or crowns. Any changes are generally irreversible. Bonding instead maintains more of your natural tooth structure while still fixing unwanted issues.

3. Erase Minor Tooth Issues

Whether it’s a sports related injury from years back or you recently bit down on a piece of candy a little too hard, we have the solution with dental bonding. Issues like gaps, cracks, chips, tooth discoloration, or irregularly shaped teeth can all be corrected.

The goal of cosmetic bonding is to have the end result look natural. This is thanks to a shade guide used by our dentists and the application of tooth-colored resin. No one will know by looking at you that you ever had cracked or spaced teeth.

Remember, however, that bonding is best suited for minor repairs. If the cosmetic restorations required are significant, we may suggest alternative treatment.

4. Be a Straightforward Procedure

Dental bonding is less invasive and does not need much advanced tooth preparation. Because of this, it is a relatively painless procedure and should not require any numbing or local anesthesia.

Our dentists will start the procedure by roughening up the surface of the tooth and applying a special conditioning liquid. This will help the bonding material adhere to the tooth. 

We’ll apply the resin, mold it, and smooth it to the desired shape before it’s hardened with a bright light. Afterward, our dentists will trim and shape the cured resin a bit more and finish by polishing it to match your natural tooth’s sheen. 

Make an Appointment

If you’re not in love with your smile because of a few chips or cracks, our cosmetic dentists in Cadillac, MI, may recommend dental bonding. Call LifeSmiles Dentistry today at (231) 775-8281 to request an appointment.