Westmont Dentist | Porcelain Inlays and Onlays

When a tooth has a larger size restoration needed or a larger portion of the cusp of the tooth is missing, we may recommend an inlay or more commonly, an onlay porcelain restoration. You can think of these restorations are “conservative crowns”. There is less drilling than placing a crown and it preserves much of the original tooth structure.

Kathryn Kennedy, DDS in Westmont, IL enjoys placing porcelain onlays as she finds that the less drilling you do for a patient, the more tooth structure is left. Each time a restoration is done, it takes a little more of the tooth with it. So, by doing onlays, we are able to conserve cusps and the critical internal strength of a tooth allowing it to withstand chewing forces better.

While the fee for an onlay is closer to that of a crown, and it is much more conservative in terms of tooth reduction. Similar to a crown, we need to take a digital scan of your prepared tooth and have the lab fabricate a restoration to replace the missing tooth structure.

WHAT IS A PORCELAIN ONLAY?

It is an indirectly made custom-designed piece of porcelain that is crafted to specifically fit into a tooth to replace the missing natural tooth structure. This is as opposed to a directly placed “filling” in which material is packed into a cavity preparation to mold it in place. The onlay is a very strong, tooth-colored porcelain material that blends in with your natural tooth esthetically and is cemented or bonded in place. Because of the design and the type of materials and the way it is bonded, you can anticipate 97% of your natural tooth strength to be restored by this restoration. In the past, we did these restorations out of gold and then composite material, but today, the more esthetic and durable restoration seems to be the porcelain type.

HOW LONG WILL MY ONLAY LAST?

Assuming normal wear and tear is similar to natural teeth, onlays can last 20 years or more. With proper home care and maintenance and a low sugar diet, you can potentially expect to get up to 30 years. Stronger materials we have today combined with better bonding cements contribute to the longer potential life-span on onlays.