Dental bonding repairs a chipped, worn, or slightly gapped front tooth using composite resin shaped directly onto the tooth and hardened with a curing light. Most cases are finished in 30 to 60 minutes per tooth, in a single visit, with no lab work and usually no freezing.

It is the most conservative cosmetic option available, because little or no healthy enamel is removed. Dr. Wes Prepchuk has placed thousands of composite restorations over the past ten years and all three dentists at Springbank Hill Dental do bonding as routine work.

Bonding is a cosmetic treatment for small problems on teeth that are otherwise healthy.

It works well for:

• Small chips on front teeth
• Worn or uneven edges
• Small gaps between teeth
• Individual stained or discoloured spots that whitening will not lift
• The appearance of a slightly crooked tooth, by reshaping its visible surface

Two things bonding does not do. It does not move teeth, so a genuinely misaligned bite needs aligners or braces. It does not strengthen a tooth, so a tooth that has lost significant structure needs a crown instead. Dr. Prepchuk will tell you at the assessment which of the three you are looking at.

Bonding is faster, cheaper, and far less invasive than the alternatives. A veneer usually requires permanently removing a layer of enamel. A crown requires reducing the whole tooth. Bonding removes almost nothing, which means the tooth underneath stays intact and your options stay open.

The trade-off is durability. Composite is not as strong as porcelain and not as strong as your own enamel. It chips under heavy force and it stains over time. For a small correction on a front tooth that is a sensible trade. For a heavily worn or structurally damaged tooth it is not.

Assessment

An examination and X-rays confirm the tooth is healthy and that bonding is the right treatment. Bonding placed over decay fails, so anything underneath gets dealt with first.

Preparing the tooth

The surface is lightly roughened and conditioned so the composite grips. Sharp edges on a chip are smoothed. This removes a negligible amount of enamel and usually needs no freezing.

Shaping

Composite is matched to the shade of the surrounding teeth, applied in layers, and sculpted directly on the tooth. Each layer is hardened with a curing light before the next goes on.

Finishing and polishing

Excess material is trimmed and the restoration is polished to a natural sheen. Polishing matters for more than appearance: a rough surface collects plaque.

Bite check

You bite on coloured paper so we can find any spot where the new surface sits too high. Contacts left unadjusted are the most common reason a bonded tooth fractures early. This step takes two minutes and it is the difference between a repair that lasts years and one that lasts months.

Most bonded restorations last between three and ten years. Where you land in that range depends on where the tooth sits in your bite, whether you grind, and what you eat and drink.

One limitation worth knowing before you commit: composite stains, and it does not whiten. Coffee, tea, red wine, and tobacco will darken bonding over time, and whitening gel has no effect on it. If you are planning to whiten your teeth, whiten first and bond afterwards so the composite is matched to your final shade. Doing it the other way round leaves you with a bonded tooth that no longer matches.

• Avoid biting hard objects with it: ice, popcorn kernels, pens, fingernails. Composite is not as strong as enamel.
• Wear a sports mouthguard if you play contact sports. It protects the bonding and everything around it.
• Brush and floss normally. Decay under a restoration is the most common reason bonding needs replacing early.
• Wear a nightguard if you grind. Grinding is the fastest way to chip a bonded edge.
• Keep your six-month checkups. We can polish out surface staining and repair small chips in the composite long before the whole restoration needs redoing.

Bonding is the least expensive cosmetic option, usually a fraction of the cost of a veneer or crown on the same tooth. Springbank Hill Dental follows the Alberta Dental Association Fee Guide, which publishes a standard price for every procedure in the province, so you can compare what we charge against any clinic in the city.

Cosmetic bonding is often not covered by insurance, though bonding done to repair a damaged tooth frequently is. We submit a predetermination so you know which applies to you before we start.

Book a bonding consultation at Springbank Hill Dental by calling (403) 454-4757 or booking online. We are at 133-7460 Springbank Blvd SW, open from 7:00 am Wednesday through Saturday and until 8:30 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. New patients are welcome, no referral is needed, and parking is free.