Onlays

Do you have a broken or fractured tooth? If so, you may be afraid that you’ll lose the entire tooth or that you’ll have to get a tooth replacement. However, thanks to modern cosmetic dentistry, we have the ability to fix and restore your tooth while maintaining most of your tooth’s natural structure and without having to do anything drastic.

Your teeth may get damaged because of various reasons —nature wear and tear of the enamel, physical impact, cavities, bruxism, or other reasons. If a large part of your tooth is broken, you may need to replace it with a dental crown or bridge. However, if the fracture isn’t too large, then you can restore it with onlays. This is a procedure by which you can restore or fix small fractures and cracks by bonding a piece of porcelain or other tooth-colored materials to the damage.

One of the best part of onlays is that it’s a minimally-invasive and simple approach that has both functional and cosmetic value. It enhances the visual appearance of your tooth while also preventing worse complications from occurring. Please continue reading for a detailed discussion of the onlays procedure at Nottingham Dental.

Dental onlays are fillings made of materials like ceramic, porcelain, composite-resin, i.e., tooth-colored materials often used in cosmetic dentistry. During the onlays procedure, the dentist bonds the onlay material to your fractured or cracked tooth to fill up the cavity. This procedure is often used instead of dental fillings because it’s minimally invasive and the bonding material can also extend to the chewing part of the back tooth, which makes it more effective in some cases. It immediately strengthens your teeth.

Dental onlays are a lot more durable and they last longer than fillings. Most importantly, dental fillings can’t fix the damage inflicted on the cusps of the teeth but dental onlay can. The main reason people prefer dental fillings is that it’s an immediate procedure — you have to wait a few weeks for the dental onlays and wear temporary fillings in the meanwhile, but you don’t have to wait for fillings. Your dentist will generally recommend dental onlay in the following scenarios:

• If the damage, infection, or crack has spread to the cusps of your teeth.
• Dental fillings require some of your original teeth to be removed. However, if the damage is too large, the dentist may recommend an onlay because then more of your original teeth can be preserved.
• If you’re not a suitable candidate for dental crowns, the dentist will opt for dental onlays.

The following is an overview of the steps involved in the dental onlay procedure:

• The dentist uses anesthesia to numb the affected parts of your mouth.
• The dentist will have to drill into your affected tooth using a laser, drill, or air abrasion device to remove all the infection and damage. The dentist will also clean the cavity to remove all bacterial infection and debris.
• The dentist will take digital scans of your teeth and take a mold of your teeth and send it over to a laboratory so they can prepare the onlay according to the damage in your teeth. Meanwhile, you’ll have to wear a temporary filling.
• Once the onlay is prepared in a few weeks, the dentist will apply it to your teeth. It will bond with your teeth and repair the damage.