Are you uncomfortable or hesitant to flash your smile in a business or social environment because of a stained, imperfect, or unattractive front tooth? If so, a cosmetic dental procedure known as bonding could be the ideal solution you are searching for to improve the aesthetic appearance of your smile.

Apart from restoring the beauty of your smile, dental bonding can also give you an attractive facial image and keep your teeth healthy for the longest time possible. Unfortunately, not every person is an excellent candidate for this cosmetic dental procedure.

Therefore, it would be best to visit your dentist for a check-up and diagnosis to know which cosmetic procedure will work best for your unique dental needs. Read on to learn everything you need about dental bonding and dental issues that make you an ideal candidate for this cosmetic dental procedure.

What is Dental Bonding?

Also known as teeth bonding or composite bonding, dental bonding is a common and cost-friendly cosmetic procedure where a tooth-colored resin is bonded or glued on the surface of a tooth or teeth that needs repair.

Unless the teeth that need repair are many, your dentist can complete this procedure in a single dental appointment to give you the appealing smile you deserve. Depending on your unique dental problem, dental bonding can change the size, shape, and color of your teeth to give you a bright smile without spending a fortune.

Dental Issues That Make You an Excellent Candidate for Dental Bonding

Dental bonding is a fast, effective, and cost-friendly way to repair various dental flaws that can negatively impact the appearance of your smile. Below are some of the common dental issues that make you an ideal candidate for dental bonding:

Chipped or Cracked Tooth

Although your tooth enamel is the hardest organ in the body, it has its limits. When you bite hard foods like candy or experience force or trauma on your mouth, your teeth can crack or chip. Other causes of cracked teeth among most people include:

  • Falls or accidents
  • Playing contact sports like hockey without a mouthguard
  • Teeth grinding (bruxism)

Even if a cracked or chipped tooth could be painless, you do not have to live with an imperfect tooth throughout your lifetime. Your dentist can cover or fix these chips or cracks in your front tooth using composite resin for an improved smile appearance.

In addition to being a cosmetic issue, a cracked tooth can cause other severe problems like cavities down the road when left unfixed. A chipped tooth can also cause injuries to the soft tissues of your mouth, like the gums or tongue.

Fortunately, a dentist can repair and cover all these imperfections through a cosmetic dental procedure known as bonding to give you the charming and eye-catching smile you deserve. Even When a large piece of your tooth breaks off, the dentist can grind the remaining part of the tooth and cover it with a crown (artificial tooth) to protect the tooth’s inner part and improve your smile.

Discolored or Stained Teeth

A discolored or stained front tooth is another common dental issue that could make you an excellent candidate for dental bonding. While your dentist can clean some teeth discolorations using teeth whitening gel or toothpaste at home, dental bonding could be necessary to hide or camouflage stubborn and persisting stains, especially those caused by trauma or medication.

Gapped Teeth

Apart from genetics, spaces between your teeth could develop due to a mismatch between your jaw and teeth. Although wearing braces is often a recommendable and most common way to fix spaces between the teeth, your dentist could recommend dental bonding if these spaces or gaps are minor.

While some people can comfortably live with minor gapped or spaced teeth, you do not have to go the same road if it makes you self-conscious, especially when smiling or talking to people in a public place. Dental bonding is an effective and quick dental procedure that can work in your favor to close or fill unwanted spaces between your teeth for a brighter smile that you crave to have.

In addition to improving your smile appearance, fixing or closing teeth gaps using composite resin can help improve your speech.

Irregular Shaped Teeth

Shape, size, and length discrepancies between your teeth are other reasons that make you an ideal candidate for dental bonding. Through this cosmetic procedure, your dentist can reshape or lengthen your teeth to match the adjacent surrounding teeth for a brighter and radiant smile.

Crooked Teeth

Having crooked teeth could not sound like a severe dental issue, but it can be a huge blow to your confidence, especially if the crooked teeth are visible when you smile or talk. While most assume wearing braces is the only way to fix crooked teeth, modern dentistry procedures like dental bonding could fix this cosmetic issue to give you an improved and healthy smile.

Decayed Teeth

Tooth decay, also commonly known as dental caries, is the demineralization of the teeth' enamel caused by acid-releasing bacteria in your mouth. The leading cause of tooth decay or caries is poor oral habits like improper teeth brushing or eating sugary foods, which create an ideal environment for bacteria to thrive.

When left untreated, the acidic excretes from the bacteria will erode the surface of your teeth, causing small holes known as cavities. In most cases, that is when most people detect this dental condition because it often results in extreme tooth sensitivity, especially when you sip cold or hot drinks.

When detected early, your dentist can reverse tooth decay by bonding or covering the affected areas using composite resin. Even if you already have cavities in your tooth, the dentist can fill these holes using composite resin to prevent further damage and improve the aesthetic appearance of your smile.

Receding Gums

Gum recession occurs when the margin of your gum tissue that supports and surrounds your teeth pulls back, exposing the affected tooth's roots. When gum recession develops, gaps or pockets form between the affected tooth or teeth and your gum line. While gum recession is irreversible, there are several ways your dentist can prevent this health issue from worsening.

Dental bonding is one of the most common non-surgical treatment methods for gum recession. Using composite resin, your dentist can camouflage the affected areas of gum recession to cover the exposed tooth root. Apart from preventing possible infection of your gums and tooth, camouflaging areas of gum recession using a tooth-colored composite resin can give you that celebrity-like smile.

Undoubtedly, teeth bonding or dental bonding could be a solution to a variety of dental issues. Scheduling a consultation with a dentist should be your first step if you want to know whether or not you are an excellent candidate for this cosmetic dental procedure for a brighter smile.

What to Expect During a Dental Bonding Procedure

Fortunately, dental bonding is a simple and non-invasive outpatient dental procedure that will not take much of your time to see the desired results. Once you visit your dentist for a dental bonding procedure, he/she will first sit down with you to briefly discuss your dental history and cosmetic goal.

To determine whether or not you are an eligible candidate for this cosmetic procedure, the dentist will also take a few dental X-ray pictures to examine your gums and teeth health. If you have a tooth cavity, gum disease, or any other oral health problem that can worsen over time, you must treat that before pursuing dental bonding.

However, if your dental and gum health is in good shape, your dentist will immediately start the dental bonding process to give you a radiant smile you crave. Unlike most dental procedures, dental bonding treatment will require little or no preparation ahead of time.

Unless the affected tooth is decayed, the crack is near a nerve, or perhaps drilling is necessary to change its shape, anesthesia will be unnecessary during this procedure because it is painless. Generally speaking, during a dental bonding procedure, your dentist will:

     I. Select a Composite Resin Shade

During this first step of the dental bonding procedure, the dentist will choose the ideal composite resin color that matches your teeth' whiteness. Your dentist will rely on a shade guide to pick a resin material that will match your natural teeth color to give you a brighter smile.

     II. Clean the Affected Teeth or Tooth

Next, the dentist will thoroughly clean and polish your tooth surface using specialized dental equipment to remove discolorations and plaque build-up that could negatively affect the bonding process.

     III. Prepare Your Affected Tooth

Before applying the adhesive material that holds the composite resin in place, the dentist will file or grind the affected tooth to make it smooth and remove uneven edges. The extent of the teeth shaping or smoothening will depend on your unique dental issue.

Afterward, the dentist will roughen or etch the tooth surface using a mild acid or laser to make it adhere to the liquid adhesive substance (dental glue) that holds the composite resin in place.

     IV. Apply the Resin Material

Once the dentist roughens the surface of the chipped, stained, or imperfect tooth, he/she will apply the stain-resistant composite resin to the specific part that needs repair using an applicator or small brush. Sometimes, the dentist will also blow the resin to disperse it as a thin, uniform layer over the surface of your already prepared tooth.

     V. Cure the Resin Material

Using an ultra-violet (UV) light or laser, the dentist will activate the composite resin that causes it to harden and bond with your tooth's surface. To protect your eyes from unintentional irritation caused by UV light, your dentist could have you wear special sunglasses.

     VI. Trim and Polish Resin Material

In most cases, the dentist will intentionally overbulk the composite resin material on the targeted tooth or teeth and trim it back into shape using a special drill after the hardening stage. Once the composite resin hardens as required, the dentist will mold and trim it to the desired shape to match the alignment of the adjacent healthy teeth.

To finalize or complete this procedure, the dentist will polish and smoothen the composite resin to match the shape and texture of the adjacent natural teeth for the catchy smile you deserve.

Once the procedure is complete, the dentist will allow you to admire your new smile in a mirror. If you have any opinion about the new smile appearance, you should talk with your dentist before you leave his/her clinic. After all, it is your tooth, and your opinion on the new look matters the most.

Generally speaking, the dental bonding process will not take more than an hour to complete unless several teeth require repair and restoration. Since anesthesia is unnecessary during this procedure, you can return to regular activities immediately after this dental visit.

How to Care for a Bonded Tooth

How long a bonding lasts will mainly depend on your oral habits. Therefore, giving the bonded tooth the same attention and care as your natural teeth is vital if you want to maintain the same smile appearance for the longest time possible. After a successful dental bonding procedure, a reliable dentist will give tips to help you care for the bonded teeth or tooth and your overall health at home.

Here are helpful tips that can help you care for a bonded tooth and protect your oral health:

  • Avoid staining foods like tea or wine for the first forty hours (48) after the procedure
  • Quit smoking
  • Avoid biting your nails
  • Avoid sticky and hard foods like nuts and candy
  • Avoid chewing on gums
  • Avoid chewing on ice
  • Brush and floss your teeth at least twice every day
  • Schedule regular appointments with your dentist for regular check-ups and cleaning (typically after every six months)

If you cannot limit staining drinks after having your teeth bonded, it would help if you drink your favorite beverages using a straw to avoid unnecessary drink contact with your teeth. When you maintain proper oral care, your dental bonding can last up to ten years without needing a touch-up or replacement.

Your dentist could emphasize the issue of scheduling regular dental check-ups because it is the only way to notice and catch any emerging problem that could potentially affect your dental health and the appearance of your smile.

Reasons Why Teeth Bonding is a Popular Choice for Most Patients

Generally, cosmetic dental or tooth bonding offers several benefits compared to other cosmetic dental procedures. Here are the reasons why teeth bonding is a popular choice among most patients who need a smile makeover:

     a) It is Cost Effective

Undoubtedly, the cost of services will be the first factor most patients will consider if they want a smile makeover. Compared to other cosmetic dental procedures, dental bonding is the treatment option that could improve your smile appearance without too much financial strain.

Although the cost of dental bonding could vary, most dentists will charge anywhere between $100 to $400 per tooth.

While it could be tempting to go for an inexperienced and inexpensive dentist, remember that excellent cosmetic dental treatment is critical for the brighter and healthy smile you deserve. To that end, an experienced and qualified dentist is more likely to give you the smile makeover you deserve than a cheap one.

     b) It is Less Invasive

While cosmetic dental procedures like veneer or crown placement could significantly alter your targeted tooth surface or shape, dental bonding does not require enamel removal to achieve the desired results.

     c) It is Versatile

The versatility and applicability of dental bonding in various dental issues is another reason this procedure is popular among most patients seeking to improve their smile's aesthetic appearance. As you can see above, dental bonding can camouflage and fix several dental flaws, ranging from cracked to decayed teeth, to give you a brighter smile.

     d) It is Quick and Convenient

Unlike tooth crowns or veneers, which could require multiple dental visits, dental bonding will require one dental appointment, meaning you will leave the dentist's clinic with the desired results. Since a dental bonding procedure yields instant results, you can have your teeth bonded during a lunch break if you have a tight schedule to have the charming smile you naturally deserve.

Whether you want to repair minor dental problems or cosmetically enhance your smile appearance, dental bonding is a viable dental procedure you can rely on if you have a qualified dentist in your corner.

Find a Reputable Dentist Near Me

A healthy and bright smile is undoubtedly a confidence and self-esteem booster. If you have any dental flaw you do not like when you look at your smile in the mirror, you should speak with a dentist. Your dentist can determine whether or not you are an excellent candidate for dental bonding to enhance the appearance of your smile.

If you are interested or have any questions about dental bonding as a smile makeover option, trained and experienced dentists at Ganji Dental are here for you. Call us at 310-643-8045 to schedule an obligation-free consultation with our friendly and credible cosmetic dentists wherever you are in Hawthorne.

Composite bonding can give you the new and admirable smile you desire, and our dentists are specialists in this area of cosmetic dentistry.