Teeth bonding
The term bonding is used in dentistry to
describe permanently attaching dental materials to your teeth
using dental adhesives and a high intensity curing light.
Whether you realize it or not, you’ve probably
received a dental treatment involving either form of dental
bonding: direct composite bonding or adhesive bonding of a
restoration (crown, bridge, porcelain veneer, inlay/onlay)
that was created in a laboratory or in-office.
 Direct
Composite Bonding
Dentists use tooth-colored composites (white
or natural-looking materials) that they have in their offices
to fill cavities, repair chips or cracks, close gaps between
your teeth and build up the worn-down edges of teeth. Dentists
place the materials in or on the teeth where needed.
Because direct composite bonding involves
the precise placement of restorative material by the dentist,
the direct composite bonding procedure usually is completed
in one dental visit. More complicated or extensive treatments
may require additional visits. However, there is usually no
need for temporaries or waiting days or weeks for laboratory
restorations.
The same composite materials also may be
directly applied and sculpted to the surfaces of teeth that
show most prominently when you smile, for minimally invasive
smile makeovers. While dentists call them direct composite
veneers, many people just refer to them generically as "bonding."
Composite bonding usually is an ideal and less expensive solution
for people with chips, gaps between the teeth, staining and
discoloration, slight crookedness and misshapen teeth.
Although direct composite veneers typically
require minimal preparations, no mold-taking and no temporaries,
the artistic skill and precision of the dentist you choose
will determine the exact manner in which your direct composite
veneers are created. For example, some dentists use putty
stents based on an impression of the patient’s teeth and a
model of their desired smile to guide them when placing the
composite. This helps ensure a satisfactory result.
Adhesive Bonding
Adhesive bonding refers to attaching a restoration
to a tooth using an etchant, a bonding agent, an adhesive
and a high intensity curing light. This method is typically
used for esthetic and metal-free crowns, porcelain veneers,
bridges and inlays/onlays.
Understanding the Bonding Process
Whether your treatment plan calls for direct
composite restorations or adhesively bonded restorations,
dentists start the bonding process by using a rubber dam to
isolate the teeth, to prevent interference from moisture.
Depending on the extent of the treatment, anesthetic injections
may be required.
Your dentist would then apply a gentle phosphoric
acid solution to the surface of the natural tooth, which won’t
hurt. Similar to how roughing up a surface with sandpaper
can help paint adhere to it better, acid etching of the tooth
surface strengthens the bond of the composite and the adhesive.
After 15 seconds the phosphoric acid is removed, and a liquid
bonding agent is applied.
For a direct composite restoration:
•Our dentist then will place a putty-like
composite resin in stages on the natural surface of the tooth,
then shape & sculpt it.
•A high intensity curing light will be used to harden that
layer of composite, and the previous step will be repeated,
then cured, until the filling or direct composite veneer has
reached its final shape.
•Your dentist also will create an appropriate finish to ensure
that the bonded resin does not dislodge or cause tooth sensitivity.
For a restoration from a laboratory:
•Our dentist will place the appropriate adhesive
into the restoration, seat the restoration on the tooth and
light-cure it using a high intensity curing light for the
appropriate amount of time.
It is not uncommon for a bonded tooth – particularly
one that has been filled or on which a crown or inlay/onlay
has been placed – to feel sensitive after treatment. This
minor sensitivity is often short-lived, but if it persists,
see your dentist.
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