Confident Smile Dental

Restorative Dentistry

Composite White Fillings

A composite resin filling (also known as a white filling) is a tooth-colored plastic mixture filled with glass (silicon dioxide) and is a composite quartz resin that usually contains some sort of light sensitive agent.

Introduced in the 1960s dental composites were confined to the front teeth because they were not strong enough to withstand the pressure and wear generated by the back teeth. Since then composites have been significantly improved and can be successfully placed in the back teeth as well. Composites are not only used to restore decayed areas but are also used for cosmetic improvements of the smile by changing the color of the teeth or reshaping disfigured teeth. A composite filling can be tinted to match any tooth color and it forms a natural bond with the existing tooth in a way that metal fillings cannot. The end result is nearly invisible fillings.

Porcelain Inlay/Onlays

Inlay

Dental inlays are used to treat teeth that have decay or damage lying within their indented top surfaces. They can also be used to replace old or damaged metal fillings. Inlay placement is usually carried out over two appointments. During your first visit to the dentist, an impression of your tooth will be taken, and a temporary inlay will be placed over the tooth. The dentist will send the impression off to a dental lab, which will create the inlay to match your tooth's specifications. When you return to the dentist's office, the temporary inlay will be removed and the permanent one will be placed carefully over your tooth. There is no downtime after receiving a dental inlay, only a mild level of tenderness in the treated area, so you can return to work or other activities as soon as you leave the office.

Since dental inlays and onlays can be made from durable, tooth-colored porcelain, they offer much more enduring and natural-looking results than metal fillings. In addition, their customized nature allows dentists to securely bond them to the tooth surface, adding structural integrity and preventing bacteria from entering and forming cavities.

Onlay

Whereas dental inlays are designed to treat decay within the cusps, or top projections, of a tooth, onlays are used to treat decay that extends to one or more of the cusps. Onlays are placed in much the same way as inlays. First, an impression of the decayed tooth is taken, and a temporary onlay is placed over the tooth. The impression is then sent to a lab, where a dental technician creates the onlay according to the tooth's dimensions. When the patient returns to the dentist's office, the temporary onlay is removed, and the permanent restoration is placed on the tooth and securely bonded using high-strength dental resins.

Like dental inlays, onlays can be created from tooth-colored material, which makes them virtually undetectable to the naked eye. Onlays also help to conserve more tooth structure because their use requires minimal removal a tooth's surface. Perhaps their most important benefit, however, is that, in saving damaged teeth, onlays help patients avoid the eventual need for more extensive treatment with dental crowns, dental bridges, or dental implants.

Porcelain Veneers

Dental veneers are custom-designed shells of tooth-like ceramic material that, when applied over the surface of a tooth, can cover worn tooth enamel, uneven tooth alignment or spacing and chips or cracks.

Dental veneers fall into the category of cosmetic dentistry because they create a bright, white smile with beautifully aligned, shapely teeth. Even better, the translucent ceramic quality of today's veneers provides a more natural look than what's been available in the past.

Type Size Small Standard Large Print Email Regardless of what causes unattractive teeth, dental veneers may solve most or even all of your cosmetic dental issues, including: Worn Enamel, Wear and Tear, Genetics, and Uneven Teeth.

Crowns and Bridges

Full Porcelain/Aesthetic Crowns and Bridges

A crown (some people call it a "cap") is used to restore a tooth that would otherwise be in danger of breaking. It covers and protects the entire tooth. Click here for information about crowns for front teeth. Click here for a general discussion of all types of crowns including porcelain crowns, whether for front teeth or back teeth. We have a separate page about the new Cerec crown that can be fitted in one appointment instead of two.

A dental bridge is used when there is a tooth missing. It usually involves putting a crown on each tooth on either side of the missing tooth, and then a false tooth or teeth is suspended between the crowns.

Dentures

Flexible Metal Free Dentures

Flexible partial dentures are the comfortable, beautiful, and affordable choice. It was long thought that removable partial dentures had to be rigid to be effective. The innovation of the Valplast Flexible Partial allows the restoration to adapt to the constant movement and flexibility in your mouth.

Tooth Fractures

Restoration of Severe Tooth Fractures (Post-Core)

Because people are living longer and dentists are helping keep teeth longer, teeth are being exposed to years of crack inducing habits. Particularly, clenching, grinding, and chewing hard things such as ice can result in cracks and fractures in teeth. Typically teeth with cracks/fractures do not show on radiographs (x-rays). Hence, cracked and fractured teeth can especially be difficult to locate. When the outer hard tissues of a tooth are fractured or cracked, chewing can cause movement of the pieces and the pulp becomes irritated. Often this results in a momentary, sharp pain which eventually progresses to include thermal sensitivity. In time the cracked or fractured tooth, similar to other teeth with pulp degeneration, can begin to hurt on it's own.