Cosmetic bonding is used for minor smile imperfections. They are used to conceal imperfections like spacing, chips and even dark stains. Cosmetic bonding is the sculpting of the tooth using tooth coloured resin over the imperfections to create the appearance of straighter more balanced smile.
Crowns can be used to make a crooked smile appear straighter, to repair broken or damaged teeth or to cover a bridge or implant. Crowns are the restoration of choice for all root treated teeth and teeth that previously carried very large amalgam/composite fillings. They are also used on those teeth that lose up to half of the incisal edge of front teeth and when the cusps or corners of your back teeth are lost.
A cosmetic crown is a hollow tooth like cap which is permantly cemented over your natural tooth; crowns are sometimes used side-by-side with veneers in a full-mouth restorative procedure.
These are thin sections of porcelain bonded directly onto the front surfaces of teeth. They are used to cover discoloured, misshapen and misaligned teeth and to close gaps between teeth. Porcelain veneers require to be manufactured in a dental lab therefore requiring two visits to the surgery. The first to prepare the tooth/teeth, (sometimes no preparation is needed) and fit temporary veneers. At the second visit they are bonded onto the teeth using high tech resins which are very strong.
These new high tech tooth coloured composite fillings can be used in both front and back teeth. Such are the properties that they possess that they can mimic the lost enamel or dentine, and restore the tooth to full function in one visit. When they cover an entire surface of a front tooth it is called a composite veneer and is often used to disguise, discoloured, mishapen and misaligned teeth.