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Bonding

What Is Bonding?

Bonding is a cosmetic process to reduce spaces between teeth, lengthen small teeth, correct the appearance of misshapen teeth, conceal discolored teeth, re-make your entire smile. If a tooth is worn or chipped, bonding can repair the tooth and protect it from further damage, while restoring its original appearance.

What is the Material Used in Bonding?

The material used in bonding is a composite resin. It is a liquid acrylic with suspended glass micro-beads which give the composite great strength and wear-resistance.

What are the Procedures in Making the Bonding?

The first step in bonding is to make sure that you properly match the material with the color of the existing tooth. A drill is used to roughen the enamel surface of the tooth, so that there is a smooth transition from the existing tooth to the bonding material. The tooth is cleaned using a mildly acidic conditioning gel, which makes the tooth more receptive to the resin composite. A conditioning gel is placed on the tooth to "open" the enamel, ensuring a better bond to the tooth. Then a resin adhesive is placed on the tooth, like a very thin film of glue, to help the bonding material adhere to the tooth. The bonding resin is applied upon the tooth in successive layers. Each layer is then hardened with a harmless high-intensity curing light or laser. Once the last layer has hardened, the bonded composite is sculpted to its desired shape and polished to a high finish.

Unlike porcelian veneers which require that impressions be made and the covering be fabricated in a lab, tooth bonding can be performed by your cosmetic dentist in one office visit.

As the tooth surface is left intact, bonding usually doesn't require any anesthetic. The procedure is typically painless, but the result can be dramatic.

HOw to Make the Bonding Last Longer?

Since the purpose of cosmetic bonding is mainly to to enhance your teeth appearance rather than to retore the full fuctionalities that your other natural teeth have, patients' precaution is always helpful to make the bonding last longer, especially for very large bonding restorations.

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