What Are the Pros and Cons to Dental Bonding?

Dental bonding is a simple cosmetic dentistry procedure that uses special-colored tooth resin that is color-matched to your teeth and then applied to the tooth, shaped and hardened. This is done for chipped tooth repair, or to improve the overall appearance of small issues like a gap between the front teeth or an uneven bite line.

Two Forms of Dental Bonding

There are generally two forms of dental bonding: direct composite bonding and adhesive bonding. Direct composite bonding uses tooth-colored composites (white or natural-looking materials) to fill cavities, repair chips or cracks, close gaps between your teeth and build up the worn-down edges of teeth. Adhesive bonding attaches a restoration to the tooth. It is commonly done through esthetic crowns, porcelain veneers, bridges, or inlays/onlays.

Pros and Cons of Dental Bonding

Dental bonding isn’t expensive, and can usually be done in one office visit, unless multiple teeth need bonded. Unlike veneers and crowns, there’s no removal of tooth enamel required, so it’s less evasive. Most procedures can be done without any numbing or anesthesia.
The catch is the material is not as strong as your regular tooth. In fact, even just chewing on your nails can damage an area that was repaired with dental bonding. It may last for only a few years before it again needs restored. Dental bonding is not nearly as long lasting as crowns, veneers, or filling, nor is it very resistant to stains. The other downside to dental bonding is that, since it is color-matched to your tooth when it is applied, you can’t get teeth whitening on a tooth with dental bonding. The bonding itself won’t lighten along with the natural tooth, and you’ll end up with a mismatched tooth.

How the Dental Bonding Procedure is Done

In most cases, you will not need numbing for dental bonding. Numbing is only necessary if the bonding is being used to fill in a cavity, drilling needs to be done to accommodate its shape, or the damaged part of the tooth is near a nerve.

Your dentist will use a shade guide to ensure the new bonded piece is a color that matches your current teeth. This way the tooth will look natural. If you are planning to have teeth whitening done to the rest of your teeth as a cosmetic dentistry procedure, you might want to do that first so your newly bonded tooth will match the whitening.

The surface of your tooth is then roughened to provide more sticking surface. A conditioning liquid is applied to the tooth so that the bonding will better attach to the existing tooth. The dental bonding material is then applied to the tooth, and the cosmetic dentist sculpts and shapes it to look like the rest of your tooth. Then the bonding is hardened with a UV light. The dentist will then make minor final touches to ensure repaired chipped tooth looks completely uniform so you can’t even tell it was bonded at all.

Dental bonding usually takes between 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the extent of the surface. If you are being treated by a dental school, you should expect the procedure to take twice as long to allow time for instruction.

Cosmetic Dentistry Specialists Serving Cincinnati

We are a Cincinnati family dental practice that specializes in cosmetic dentistry. In addition to dental bonding, we also do teeth whitening, veneers, and dental bridges.

Beckham Square Family Dental is also committed to gentle dentistry. That means we always strive to do anything we can do to help you feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible. We use the latest technologies, dental advancements, and innovations to always provide the very best care in a comfortable setting.

We are a family dentistry practice that offers a complete range of dental care, from preventative dentistry to emergency procedures to cosmetic applications. Our clinic is your complete one stop shop for your family’s dental needs. And yes, we are accepting new patients. Give us a call or fill out our online platform. We can’t wait to meet you!