White Fillings

Even the best cared for teeth can become chipped due to accidents. Teeth that are weakened by decay can also fracture when biting hard, or chewyfoods such as toffee. If a tooth becomes chipped you should contact your dentist straight away as chipped teeth are weaker and can become infected, causing pain. Left untreated they can also develop more serious problems because the sensitive inner parts of the tooth may be exposed.

Small chips in your tooth enamel can often be fixed with one quick visit to the dentist. If a large part of your tooth has broken off, you may require more extensive treatment and more than one visit.  Your dentist will be able to advise you about this upon examination.

How can a broken tooth be treated?

1. Fillings and Dental Bonding

A small chip to a tooth  can often be repaired with a filling in a single visit. An aesthetic tooth-coloured material is used, making the filling largely unnoticeable. Your dentist may also clean the tooth to remove any decay and to smooth the edges before the filling is placed.

If you have a small chip on your front teeth, your dentist may recommend dental bonding. This is a tooth-coloured composite used to repair your tooth and which will be matched in colour as closely as possible to your natural teeth. Your dentist will apply a gel to the affected tooth, followed by an adhesive and then the bonding material. The material is then shaped to look like a natural tooth and hardened using ultraviolet light. This procedure can also commonly be done in a single visit.

Here is how white fillings work:

1. This is a trusted procedure that entails the removal of any decay from your tooth, and taking out the metal or amalgam fillings you are having replaced.
2. The new filling is made from a very hard tooth-coloured substance and will withstand the forces in your mouth when you bite and chew over a long period of time.
3. The restoration is completed in one visit and your fillings will not be visible when you smile.

Composite bonding is an increasingly popular cosmetic dental treatment and is used to improve the shape, colour and overall appearance of patients’ teeth. It uses the same resin material used for white fillings, and is most frequently used on the front teeth, which are those that show when you smile.

There have been huge advances in the materials used in bonding dentistry in recent years, meaning composite bonding can be used for disguising minor imperfections in the front teeth, closing small gaps and hiding minor tooth rotations, with no damage to your teeth.

Composite bonding is a pain-free experience that requires, in most cases, just one visit to the practice. Your dentist will be able to choose a shade of resin that closely matches the colour of your teeth, meaning that the results will look entirely natural.

This is how the treatment works:

1. Your dentist picks a shade of resin that matches the natural colour of your teeth.
2. The resin is carefully applied to your teeth, with minimal need for any preparation.
3. Your dentist then carefully shapes and smooths the resin to hide any imperfections, for a result that looks entirely natural.
4. Once the resin has been shaped, it is hardened very quickly with the help of a special light.

Although composite veneer treatment does not last for as long as porcelain or ceramic veneers, many patients find the treatment highly cost-effective and sufficiently aesthetic option that exceeds their individual requirements. It can also be repeated with no damage at all to your teeth.