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Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Dental Bonding

Of all the cosmetic and restorative procedures, dental bonding is one of the easiest and most affordable. Called bonding because tooth-colored resin is bonded to your teeth, the procedure is used to repair teeth that are discolored, unevenly shaped or chipped. At our office in Renton, WA, we can even use bonding as an alternative to amalgam fillings if only a small filling is required.
 
Bonding is achieved by applying incredibly strong resin to the tooth in need of restoration. The procedure can usually be accomplished in one visit and allows you to keep most of your tooth’s original enamel, which makes bonding preferable to veneers or crowns in many cases. Once the right color resin has been chosen for your smile, your doctor at Fairwood Dental Center will slightly abrade your teeth to roughen the surface. Then a conditioning liquid is applied to help the resin adhere. The putty-like resin is then applied to your tooth and molded and smoothed until it is in the proper shape. It is hardened with an ultraviolet light or laser. After the bonding material has hardened, your doctor will trim and shape it even more and then polish it until it shines like a tooth. Altogether, the procedure usually takes between 30 minutes to an hour for one tooth.
 
If you’re unhappy with your teeth but unwilling to go as far as veneers, bonding can be used to improve your smile quickly and effectively.