The Facts about Tooth Bonding
Tooth bonding is a specialized dental cosmetic surgery procedure. Your dentist will apply a composite resin that will adhere to your discolored teeth. Dental bonding is an excellent way to accomplish tooth whitening well as correcting many tooth imperfections such as chipped or cracked teeth. Tooth bonding also replaces silver fillings and decayed parts of your teeth. Tooth bonding is also used to instantly correct unsightly broken front teeth.

This type of dental bonding involves a composite resin that consists of plastic material that also contains fillers and other material that is added to the resin to achieve certain desired effect. For example, if you would like to replace a silver filling on one of your back molars, the composite resin needed to accomplish this must be strong and durable, since these are your “chewing teeth.” Since your smile doesn’t involve these teeth, the tooth bonding procedure doesn’t involve color consistency that matches your other teeth. However, keep in mind that tooth bonding is a sought-after remedy because the composite resin can easily be enhanced with pigments that match the natural color of your teeth.

In dental bonding, the composite resin used is made into material with a paste-like consistency; it will be applied to your teeth and then carefully sculpted by your dentist so that is appears completely natural. The composite resin hardens very quickly when exposed to a high-intensity light. The next part of tooth bonding is for your dentist to buff and polish your “new” teeth so that it creates a lovely, translucent shine. Have you ever noticed that actors, actresses and models have perfectly aligned white, beautiful teeth? They didn’t “grow” these teeth; the answer for them was tooth bonding.

Steps Involved in Tooth Bonding
The first step in pursing dental bonding is to select a competent cosmetic dentist who performs this procedure routinely. During your first appointment, your dentist will ask questions about your tooth problems and what you would like to achieve with tooth bonding. Next, your dentist will then provide you with an estimate of the cost of your dental bonding procedure. The price takes into account the two types of tooth bonding: a one-time session and multiple sessions.

The next step is for you to decide what type of tooth bonding you need. One-time sessions are for minor corrections like small, natural looking fillings in your “smile teeth.” Multi-session dental bonding is the solution for more complex and enhanced tooth corrections with porcelain veneers that are customized in a dental lab.

Whatever type of tooth bonding you select, your dentist will need to reduce your tooth’s enamel through “etching” or “shaving” your tooth so that the composite resin can easily be fitted and sculpted on top of your tooth. Applying the resin or veneer without this step will cause unsightly and uncomfortable “fat teeth.”

How much does Tooth Bonding Cost?
Tooth bonding may sound expensive, but in reality it is very affordable when compared with other more expensive cosmetic surgery and dental bonding procedures. The price of tooth bonding depends upon how many of your teeth need this treatment and the type of dental bonding required. On average, you can expect to pay about $200 to $600 per tooth that is corrected with composite resin.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Tooth Bonding?
The pros of tooth bonding are that it may be accomplished in just one visit to your dentist, it is affordable, it is not painful, and the bond holds for many years. Compare tooth bonding with silver fillings: the average bond holds for about twelve years, while the lifespan of silver fillings is only about seven years. With tooth bonding, you get a lot for your money.

Another benefit is that the materials used in tooth bonding results in a perfect color match with your other teeth. It also flexible enough to expand and contract with your natural teeth, thus preventing cracks and chips.

The cons of tooth bonding are that it tends to stain over time. If you smoke or drink coffee, tea or red wine, this accelerates staining and you will need regular dental maintenance on your bonds to remove the stains.

Another con of tooth bonding is that some people cannot afford the procedure. If you are in a line of work that demands a beautiful smile, it could still be difficult for you to afford bonding. But if your primary desire is to simply whiten your teeth, using an at-home kit is both affordable and effective.

Cosmetic Dentistry Type No. 1 – What is Tooth Whitening?
When people have a basically good set of teeth that are just stained due to smoking or drinking red wine or coffee, they can use what is probably the cheapest and easiest form of cosmetic dentistry – tooth bleaching or tooth whitening. It is also probably the simplest form. For instance, with at-home tooth whitening solutions, you get a ‘whitening kit’. The best types of kit will include instructions and materials for you to make your own teeth impressions, which you then send off to an approved dental lab. The impressions are used to create a customized tray for you, which you then use to put the whitening gel (also provided in the whitening kit) on your teeth. From here, it’s simply a matter of using the whitening tray and gel as often as you like till you get the level of whiteness you desire.

Average Cost: $150 and above per tooth whitening system (includes gels, trays, etc).
Main Pros: inexpensive; easy to perform, convenient to apply.
Main Cons: requires maintenance.

Cosmetic Dentistry Type No. 2 – What are Porcelain Veneers?
Porcelain veneers are wafer-thin sheets of porcelain that are bonded or molded to the front of your teeth using a curing light. Although considered a tooth whitening solution (and that indeed they are), this cosmetic dentistry option offers so much more than just whitening your teeth. Porcelain dental veneers can be used to remove gaps between your teeth, fill out any chips on your teeth, and others. In short, they change the outline of your teeth, enabling you to flash a ‘perfect set’ of pearly whites.

You need three visits to the dentist for this cosmetic dentistry procedure. At the first, the two of you discuss what changes you want to make to your teeth. At the second appointment, your teeth are shaved or reduced by about .5mm and a mold of your teeth taken for the porcelain veneers to be made. The veneers take about a week in the lab. Then you can have your third and, hopefully, final visit to have your veneers fitted. You only need another visit if some adjustment is needed.

Average Cost: $500 to $2000 per tooth
Main Pros: looks very natural; stain-resistant.
Main Cons: irreversible procedure; can be quire expensive.

Cosmetic Dentistry Type No. 3 – What is Dental Bonding?
Dental bonding is a form of cosmetic dentistry where a dental composite filling is applied on your teeth. It basically uses the same procedure as applying porcelain veneers but the material used is different. So what IS dental composite? To put it simply, it’s mainly plastic plus fillers and modifiers that serve to enhance the general characteristics of this plastic. As such, there is no one, single recipe for dental composite because its composition depends on what is required. For example, if you want dental bonding done on your front teeth, the need for a better, more natural color is needed (compared to, say, dental bonding for your molars). As such, the fillers and modifiers added to the plastic will be those that improve the composite’s color.

You need to have two appointments for the dental bonding procedure. The first visit is a general consultation and discussion about what you want done. The second appointment is to reduce or shave your teeth to make space for the dental bonding material. The actual placing of the dental composite material takes place during the same appointment.

Average Cost: $200 to $600 per tooth
Main Pro: inexpensive; can be accomplished in one dental visit.
Main Con: only good for minor teeth imperfections.

Cosmetic Dentistry Type No. 4 – What are Dental Implants?
People who just want white teeth to make a good first impression don’t need dental implants. They are a form of cosmetic dentistry that is needed by people with missing, broken or badly infected teeth who don’t want just a plate of false teeth. A dental implant procedure often calls for the insertion of a titanium screw into your jaw bone. (Titanium is used because it is believed that the mononucleate cells that are responsible for bone formation actually ‘connect’ to this element.) Once the dental implant is in place, a few months of ‘recovery time’ (or integration time) are needed. After this, a temporary crown is fitted so that your gums can grow around the crown and form a natural shape. After this, the permanent crown is implanted.

Average Cost: approx. $2500 per implant
Main Pro: nearest possible replacement to natural teeth
Main Con: extremely expensive; success rates largely dependent on oral surgeon skill.

What you want to have done and how much it will cost are major factors in your decision making process. And remember, Cosmetic dentistry has many different options for you to choose from.