Cosmetic Treatments

Composite (White) Fillings

Composite (White) fillings are an aesthetic tooth coloured option to repair teeth.

Other options are porcelain or composite inlays/onlays, which are much stronger than the composite restorations and are tailor made by the laboratory technicians.

Inlay/Onlays

Inlays and Onlays are tooth coloured fillings and are used for larger areas of the tooth. They can also be used on the front teeth to contour chipped teeth. They are tailor made by the laboratory technicians.

Inlays and onlays are used when a cavity is large but the surrounding tooth is healthy. Instead of reducing the healthy tooth to fit a crown, inlays are made from porcelain, gold or resin. An inlay sits in a hole in the tooth and an onlay sits on the tooth to build up its shape.

Crowns and bridges

A crown (cap) is needed when the top part of the tooth has heavily broken down or after Root Canal Treatment. This treatment is advised as there is not enough tooth structure to hold a filling.

There are many types of crowns available:

• Non Precious Metal (silver in appearance) – strong, less tooth preparation (ideal if not much tooth structure remaining)
• Precious Metal/Gold – Strong, less tooth preparation (ideal if not much tooth structure remaining), good margins/seal
  Porcelain Fused to Metal– good strength and aesthetics
• Emax– All porcelain crown which is very aesthetic, however not as strong as
• Porcelain fused to metal or Zirconia crowns.
• Zirconia -All porcelain crown which is aesthetic and stronger than Emax crowns.

Once you have decided the type of crown you want, the treatment is to prepare the tooth for the crown and take impressions to send off to the dental laboratory we use. Whilst the crown is being made at the laboratory, a temporary white crown is placed to protect the tooth. During this period you should:

• Avoid eating chewy hard foods.
• Brush and floss the temporary crown gently.
• Chew with the opposite side of your mouth if you can.

The temporary crown is removed when it comes to placing the crown sent back from the laboratory.

A bridge replaces missing teeth by fixing a replacement tooth (or teeth) to the natural teeth at each end of the gap. Some bridges have crowns at each end. With others, the replacement teeth are stuck just to the sides of the teeth beside the gap. Bridges are often made of metal and porcelain materials. The treatment process is that of similar to a crown preparation.

There are many types of crowns available:

• Non Precious Metal (silver in appearance) – strong, less tooth preparation (ideal if not much tooth structure remaining)
• Precious Metal/Gold – Strong, less tooth preparation (ideal if not much tooth structure remaining), good margins/seal
  Porcelain Fused to Metal– good strength and aesthetics
• Emax– All porcelain crown which is very aesthetic, however not as strong as
• Porcelain fused to metal or Zirconia crowns.
• Zirconia -All porcelain crown which is aesthetic and stronger than Emax crowns.