Tooth-Colored Restoration

In the dental world, “restoration” refers to an addition to your teeth that restores it to its former shape, size, and look. Usually matching your tooth color, restorations are either direct — those completed in one visit like a cavity filling — or indirect — those that require formation in a dental lab. Patients know these more commonly as porcelain inlays or onlays, crowns, and veneers. These procedures take two visits, with a wait in between while the lab custom fabricates your restoration.

Besides the appeal of being matched to your specific enamel, tooth-colored restorations strengthen the tooth, and because they’re bonded to the tooth, they prolong its life. The material used for tooth-colored restoration is soft and moldable as it’s applied to the cavity prep; however, once the cavity is filled and the surface smoothed, a curing light hardens the filling. Your new restoration exerts inward pressure that promotes long-term stability. Metal restorations are not bonded to the tooth, and because of that, they exert outward pressure that weakens the tooth and causes cracks and breakage. Once that happens, a crown is usually needed next.

We offer tooth-colored restorations as a better alternative to metal restorations.