Cosmetic Bonding
Have questions about cosmetic bonding and how the process works? Our dentists took some time to share information and answer common patient questions to help educate about the cosmetic bonding procedure. View the table of contents below to learn more or find your question and get an answer from one of our dentists!
The following content was provided by Dr. Michael DesRosiers, LVIF Certified General Dentist, and has been medically reviewed for accuracy. Some relevant links have been added to audio transcripts to provide resources for additional information.
Table of Contents:
Click on a question below to be taken directly to that answer.
What is cosmetic bonding?
Answer provided by Dr. Michael DesRosiers. Transcript included below.
Dr. DesRosiers:
There’s a lot of different ways to do cosmetic bonding and a lot of different indications for it. What it basically is, is to use a composite resin material to change the shape and or the shade of your anterior teeth, the cosmetic zone of your mouth. To change the angles and things, make it more aesthetically appealing.
What is the difference between cosmetic bonding and veneers?
Answer provided by Dr. Michael DesRosiers. Transcript included below.
Dr. DesRosiers: The indication for them is really different. I think, that I’ve done some cases with cosmetic bonding that were more limited cases, closing small spaces, making small changes. I think that works really well with cosmetic bonding. The materials between bonding and veneers is totally different.
Usually the veneers are a porcelain type of laminate restoration that the tooth is slightly prepared, and it is cemented with a resin cement, usually made in a laboratory. Whereas the cosmetic bonding is done directly, where the dentist will shape it himself directly on the tooth and close the space or change the shape, or whatever it is they want to do.
The indication really for one versus another, has to do with exactly what you’re trying to change. If you’re trying to change the shade of all of the upper teeth say, you’re really not going to do that with just cosmetic bonding. If there’s a lot of spacing issues and things like that, again, the veneers will probably be a better choice than cosmetic bonding, have greater longevity predictability. It will really give you more the look that you’re looking for. There is a place for cosmetic bonding, but I think it’s really in very conservative cases.
Can the dentist fix the gap in my teeth?
Answer provided by Dr. Michael DesRosiers. Transcript included below.
Dr. DesRosiers: The answer is yes, we can. Sometimes that can’t be accomplished only restoratively, so there has to be an orthodontic component as well to move the teeth some, to mitigate the spaces. And then you can use the restorative, either the veneers or the bonding to enhance that and make it perfect.
Another thing to think about is sometimes, let’s say you just have a space in between your front two teeth and it’s a larger space. Sometimes you actually need to restore more than just those two teeth so you can keep the proportion the same and have the ideal cosmetic results. So even though the space is between those two teeth, there’s some cosmetic tricks that you can really make it look nice, but you have to involve a few extra teeth to make that happen.
