restorative dentistry

Recent research has shown that no matter what is used to put a tooth back together, the longest lasting option is that which leaves the most natural tooth present ie there is no substitute for the natural tooth. Thus the big emphasis now is on conserving tooth structure when restoring them and ideally avoiding drilling in the first place. Superior newer materials are bonded in rather than mechanically locked as in the past and allow for no (or very minimal) tooth removal.

Unfortunately when more than 50-75% of the tooth is missing (most commonly due to decay) the weak tooth requires further protection from breakage in the form of an indirect restoration, custom made outside the mouth in a laboratory rather than placed chairside as a direct filling.

This section details all of  the options, ranging from an inlay to onlay to partial and full coverage crowns. These have many advantages and in addition to being super strong look extremely lifelike. These indirect restorations have the best chance of lasting the longest out of all the options.