NEW TEETH FOR OLD

A new dental technique is offering hope for people with chipped, stained
or heavily filled front teeth.  What it is and how it could help you is
explained here.
 

Tooth bonding, one of dentistry's exciting new developments, has the potential
to enhance many a smile without being prohibitively expensive.  For example, in 
many instances it can be a very satisfactory alternative to jacket crowns.
The technique may even be used to close up gaps between front teeth and improve
the appearance of crooked ones.
  Tooth bonding is a procedure in which a special tooth-coloured plastic is 
bonded onto the surface of a tooth.  The plastic is moulded into shape and set
hard by shining a special white light on it. 
The final result is indistinguishable from a normal tooth. 
One of the secrets of the strength and durability of tooth bonding lies in 
the initial tooth-conditioning procedure carried out by the dentist.  Normally, 
plastic does not bond to teeth.  The teeth are first conditioned with mild
acid. The acid roughens the surface of the teeth so that the bonding 
plastic then sticks to the enamel. It is set hard with the white
light and it becomes firmly locked in place.

 ADVANTAGES  OF  TOOTH-BONDING

  In the past, the standard treatment for chipped, stained or heavily filled
teeth was the preparation and placement of gold inlays or jacket crowns.  In this 
procedure the dentist must first drill away the surface covering of the 
tooth (enamel) and shape the remaining tooth into an elongated cone.
A jacket crown is then made by a dental technician to fit over the prepared tooth.
The crown is then cemented onto the tooth.
  The whole procedure requires careful attention to detail and is time 
consuming and expensive.  If decay undermines a jacket crown, it often means replacing the whole crown.

  In contrast, tooth bonding is far less complex and time consuming.
It does offer several advantages:
The procedure often involves little drilling to prepare the tooth.
This means that sound tooth structure is maintained.
The cost is attractive when compared to more traditional techniques for
treating damaged or discoloured teeth. 

USES  FOR  TOOTH-BONDING

  Chipped teeth can be repaired with tooth-bonding plastic.  The dentist 
smooths off any sharp or rough edges and then proceeds to replace the lost
part of the tooth using the bonding procedure.
Stained teeth can often be completely masked using tooth-bonding.  The 
dentist applies the correct coloured tooth-bonding plastic over the 
stained area to cover over the underlying blemish.

  Many heavily filled front teeth can be improved in appearance with 
tooth-bonding.  Sometimes it may be necessary to remove all the old
filling and replace it with tooth-bonding plastic while in other cases 
only the surface of the old filling may need to be removed.

  Gaps in front teeth can be filled in with tooth-bonding plastic.
The technique is simple.  Tooth-bonding is particularly useful for people
who have "peg shaped" teeth.  The sides of these teeth can be built to 
the correct contour simply and easily by the dentist adding on small 
amounts of the tooth-bonding plastic.  Similarly, crooked teeth
can often be improved in appearance. 
  Tooth-bonding has opened up an exciting new era in dentistry.  It is 
a very versatile and straightforward procedure without some of the 
difficulties seen with more complex and expensive dental treatment.

  A word of warning however: many people are so delighted with their new 
smile that they are reluctant to brush their front teeth as thoroughly
as they should in case they damage the new work.  If this happens plaque
will build up and that spells trouble.  Bonded teeth respond well to proper
brushing and flossing, so treat them exactly as you do your other teeth.