Some people are blessed with perfectly straight, pearly white smiles. Others are not so lucky. Either way, you could end up experiencing dental woes. Even perfect smiles could be marred over time by staining, chips, and cracks. Or you might spend years living with minor gaps, crowding, or uneven edges of teeth.
If you’re not keen to get braces, and other treatments like whitening aren’t ideal for your smile (if, say, you have tetracycline staining or false teeth), you’ll be happy to hear there are options to correct your minor cosmetic issues and restore your gorgeous smile, or even improve upon what you started with.
Dental bonding is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to combat minor misalignment issues, staining, cracks, and chips, especially on highly visible front teeth. Here’s how it works.
What is Bonding?
Dental bonding is a restorative process that involves the use of tooth-colored resin. This malleable material is applied to teeth as a way to effectively cover stains, restore teeth that have been cracked or chipped, fill in gaps or even out overlaps, or create the illusion of perfectly even edges of teeth.
Using adhesive, the bonding material is attached to teeth and then sculpted to create a natural appearance. From there, a high-intensity light is used to cure the bonding materials so that they stay in place for years to come. In some cases, bonding resins are also used to fill cavities.
How Long Does Bonding Last?
You can reasonably expect dental bonding to last about 10 years, provided you take good care of your smile. Practicing proper oral hygiene goes without saying, but you also need to be careful to avoid foods and beverages that could stain your teeth, as the bonding materials will no longer match.
You also need to watch out for hard substances like ice or candy that could crack or chip bonding materials (and natural teeth). If you suffer from bruxism (clenching or grinding), using a bite guard can help to protect all of your teeth and dental work from harm.
Why Choose Bonding?
After professional assessment, your dentist will present you with options to correct your dental issues. In some cases, that may include bonding. Why should you choose this option? It’s one of the quickest and easiest ways to correct minor cosmetic concerns, and except in cases of filling cavities, it rarely requires anesthetic. In addition, it may be the least expensive way to correct a variety of issues. Just speak with your dentist to find out if bonding is right for you.
