Veneers & Bonding
Through their, continued education, extensive training and experience, our dentists specialize in both veneers and bonding
Thin, custom-made tooth-coloured shells, we use veneers to cover the front surface of the teeth to improve the strength and appearance. Made of porcelain or composite resit, we use veneers to address various cosmetic concerns such as discolouration, chips, and misalignment. Bonding, on the other hand, is a more affordable cosmetic procedure and is often completed in a single dentist visit. We apply a tooth-coloured resin to the surface of the tooth and cure or harden it with exposure to a special light. With bonding, the dentist can repair gaps, chips, and other minor imperfections.
Why choose dental bonding?
Bonded restoration, or bonding is a fast and painless procedure whereupon we make minor repairs to teeth. Using a tooth-coloured material called composite resin, we can bond several teeth in only one visit. The dentist applies composite resin on the tooth, then shapes it and cures it with light. With composite resin, a dentist can:
Match it fairly exactly to your teeth
Apply it to a broken tooth to restore it to size
Shape it to effectively fill the missing part of a chipped tooth
Paint it over a stained tooth in a shade that matches the colour of surrounding teeth
Use it to build up teeth and fill between them
Why choose veneers?
Most often made of porcelain or composite resin, the thin veneer shells get attached to the front of teeth. Stronger than composite resin veneers, porcelain does not stain or change colour. You can expect to complete the procedure in at least two dental visits if you choose porcelain and a single visit if you opt for the composite resin. However, generally speaking, the resin veneers don’t last as long as the porcelain.
Composite resin veneer procedure
Similar to the bonding process, the dentist applies a mild chemical to the front surface of the tooth to roughen it in preparation for the application of the veneer – helps the composite resin stick to the tooth’s enamel. The composite resin gets applied to the tooth, layer by layer, each cured and hardened with exposure to light. With the last hardened layer, the dentist shapes and polishes it to the specific tooth. Complete, the tooth looks smooth and natural!
How we apply porcelain veneers
A local anesthetic (freezing/numbing) is often necessary to apply porcelain veneers. Unlike the application of composite resin veneers, the dentist has to remove a thin layer of the enamel from your teeth to accomodate the porcelain veneers. The next step is taking a mould of your teeth in order to custom-make your porcelain veneers. Meantime, your dentist will likely apply temporary veneers to to protect the prepared tooth until the permanent versions are ready. While wearing the temporary veneers, it’s important to treat them gently while eating and cleaning as their very fragile and loosen easily.
The dentist will replace the temporary veneers with the permanent on the next visit. To do so, they must apply a mild chemical on your teeth to roughen the surface for better adhesion of the veneers. One by one, the porcelain veneers get glued to each teeth, using composite resin cement.