Getting Past Your Dental Fears And Learning About Technology

Several years ago I decided to take a trip to the dentist after skipping multiple appointments for over 15 years. I truly had a dental anxiety and had a hard time getting over my fears. Thankfully, my dental visit went smoothly with only four cavities identified. What I did find from this dental visit was that there was a great deal of new information and technology that I had been missing out on. Laser-based technology and digital imaging are just a few examples. With this blog, I want you to understand that you can get over your fears and learn about this new technology like I did, so enjoy the information.

How Can Dental Bonding Restore Your Smile?

Dentist Articles

Your dentist can use a technique known as dental bonding to repair a wide variety of dental problems. Bonding is the application of a composite material to the exterior of your enamel to hide damage or alter the shape of your teeth. Here is an explanation of four problems that can be repaired with dental bonding.

Cracked or Chipped Teeth

While impacts to the mouth are one of the most common causes of cracked or chipped teeth, this problem can also result from grinding your teeth while you sleep or biting too hard on hard foods. Dental bonding is an excellent solution for cracked or chipped teeth, as the procedure both hides the damage and prevents it from spreading further.

When your dentist repairs your cracked or chipped teeth, he or she will first fill the damaged area with a conditioning liquid to help the composite adhere. The composite putty is then applied to the tooth and smoothed out so that it will not stand out from the rest of the tooth. Finally, the dentist will use a UV light to harden the putty and polish it so that it matches the appearance of your enamel.

Gaps Between Teeth

While gaps between all of your teeth are usually caused by genetics, a single gap is usually the result of manual forces on your teeth. Trauma can cause localized gaps, as well as habits during childhood such as thumb sucking or tongue thrusting. Dental bonding can be used to reduce the appearance of both full-mouth gaps and single gaps.

Bonding is an especially attractive procedure for hiding gaps between teeth because it is non-invasive and doesn't actually require your teeth to be moved. Instead, layers of dental composite are added to every tooth that is adjacent to a gap. This extra material causes the teeth to appear larger, reducing the size of the gap between them.

Exposed Roots

The roots of your teeth contain the nerves that deliver blood to the pulp of your teeth. If part of the roots of your teeth are visible above the gum line, the sensitive nerves within the roots could cause you to experience significant pain and discomfort when eating hot or cold foods. Because your gums naturally recede as you age, it is important for everyone to understand their treatment options for sensitivity due to root exposure.

Much like dental bonding can be used to hide stains, it can be used to create a protective layer over the exposed sections of your tooth roots. Your dentist can apply a thin layer of composite around the bases of your teeth so that the nerves are insulated from temperatures that could cause pain. This process also helps to protect the dental sockets from bacterial infection that could lead to tooth loss.

Discolored Enamel

There are some types of discoloration that can affect your teeth that even professional teeth whitening cannot repair. Intrinsic stains are the most common example; these stains stem from decay of the tooth pulp that is visible through your partially transparent tooth enamel. Traditional tooth whitening techniques only clean the enamel, which unfortunately means that intrinsic stains will remain visible.

Dental bonding is an effective method for resolving intrinsic stains and other stubborn forms of tooth discoloration. Instead of scrubbing the discoloration away, dental bonding solves the problem by covering up the stains. Dental composite is almost completely opaque after it is hardened, so even intrinsic stains will no longer be visible.

Dental bonding is one of the most versatile procedures that your dentist can provide. If you are unsatisfied with the color, shape, or sensitivity of your teeth, you should talk to your dentist to determine if dental bonding is the right solution for your smile. To learn more, contact a dental office like Justice Dental.

Share

22 March 2017