Westmont Dentist | Composite Bonding & Tooth-Colored Fillings

When you get a cavity, there are a few options for restoring your tooth. If it is a small cavity, you can do a “filling”. If it is larger, you can do an inlay or onlay restoration that involves taking an impression and having a lab make the restorative material that rebuilds your tooth. Similarly, if a larger portion of the tooth is missing, then you usually suggest a crown for a tooth.

Kathryn Kennedy, DDS in Westmont, IL does all of these types of restorations. The most common one being the composite bonding or filling. It is a biomimetic material, meaning it looks and feels much like your natural tooth. The material is like a strong plastic that is light cured (hardened) once it is placed and shaped in the mouth. At our office, we have chosen to stay away from the mercury type restorations for many reasons, Safety and the fact they will fracture teeth and leak easily are the primary reasons. The secondary reason is that patients don’t want black fillings, particularly in their front teeth.

Tooth bonding can also be done for cosmetic reasons. We can use the composite material which is a soft, moldable, plastic material that is hardened by a special light. It comes in many shades, and we can bond it to the tooth to close spaces, cover dark areas of the tooth, lengthen teeth or straighten teeth. We have many patients that have had us close up small chips or gaps in their teeth using the tooth bonding. Because it is actually “bonded” to the tooth, it helps to strengthen the tooth itself, rather than a material like amalgam that is “packed” into a cavity and expands over time creating fractures allowing bacterial leakage and decay to set it.

While doing porcelain veneers might be a more longer-term and esthetic solution, cosmetic tooth bonding can be accomplished in one visit, is less expensive and requires minimal drilling. Depending upon your particular situation, Dr. Kennedy can help you determine which option might be the best for you.