Your smile can be your greatest asset. However, if your teeth are discolored, chipped, crooked, or have gaps, you may be hesitant to show off your smile. This doesn’t have to be the case. Dr. Terry Vines of Pure Gold Professionals in Dentistry knows that residents of Highland, CA, care about the appearance of their smile. Therefore, he offers many options for whitening, straightening, and improving your smile.
One option, bonding, is a tried and true method that many of his patients have had great success with. Dental bonding is a procedure that takes tooth-colored resin material and “bonds” it to the tooth using a special light.
Dental bonding can be used to repair chipped teeth, close gaps between teeth, make teeth look longer, lighten teeth, change the shape of a tooth, or to protect the tooth’s root if it becomes exposed due to receding gums.
Dental bonding is the simplest and least expensive option for improving the appearance of your teeth. It can typically be completed in one visit to Dr. Vines’ office and treatment only takes 30 to 60 minutes per tooth to complete.
The patient doesn’t need to do much to prepare for dental bonding and there are no changes necessary to a person’s good oral care habits. During the procedure, Dr. Vines will roughen the tooth and apply a conditioning liquid to prepare the tooth to accept the bonding material. The bonding resin is then applied and molded into the desired shape. Next, the material is hardened by using a curing light and is further trimmed and shaped until it matches the rest of your teeth seamlessly.
The bonded material will last approximately three to ten years depending on your oral care and damaging habits such as chewing on ice or hard candy, or using teeth to open packages. Taking good care of bonded teeth, just like natural teeth, will lengthen their lifespan. If the bonded material does begin to become discolored or chipped, it can be touched up or replaced.
If you need small cosmetic improvement to your smile, call the office of Pure Gold Dentistry Professionals today. Dr. Vines and his friendly staff care about the health of your mouth and the sparkle of your smile.