subject: Enamel Problems [print this page] The fear of pain is to blame for fifty one percent of the population refusing to get dental care. There are eighty percent of those who visit their dentists who know why doing so is necessary but they do not enjoy being treated. The more aesthetic or cosmetic dentistry, without drilling, becomes more popular, the sooner people's minds may change. People got a new smile on life and this resulted in their popularity to increase with the dentists' help.
What can be used to fill in unsightly gaps and cover breaks, cracks, and discolorations are composite plastic resins which look and feel like tooth enamel and could easily be painted and sculpted. This is a process called bonding because the resin directly adheres to the tooth and usually it is applied to the front teeth. No retention trench, which is where drilling comes in, is necessary. What is less expensive than a crown and easy to finish is the painless procedure that is bonding but an anesthetic may be used if work is performed close to the gums.
Having a wider range of shades are newly developed composites and they bond better too and this allows existing teeth to easily be matched with the new restorative materials. During the bonding procedure, a mild etching solution is applied to the teeth temporarily to create micropores, tiny crevices in the enamel structure. All it takes are a few seconds for the resin to bond onto teeth enamel after being hardened by an intense light. After the last coat has been applied, the resin is shaped and polished.
It has been said that cosmetic dentistry is a form of art for it can fill gaps without making it appear that the tooth has been enlarged. The tooth is actually wider, but by altering the angles of the teeth to affect the way the light shines into an observer's eye, it gives the impression nothing has been changed except to fill in the gap. There are times when the technique fails and so the bonding is removed and replaced but no teeth trauma is caused. It could remineralize within 24 hours if left alone for only a small amount of enamel is removed by the etching solution.
For people who may encounter problems with defective enamel, when the bonding fails it happens during the first few days. There are times when other kinds of restorative work cannot be replaced considering how bonding is not a panacea. There are times when it is best to do a crown especially if the structural integrity of the tooth is compromised.
Even if there are numerous benefits to cosmetic dentistry there are still some concerns like having people too mindful of their front teeth that they begin to neglect their back teeth. Compared to crowning, bonding is definitely cheaper. What bonding is not is a permanent solution. Discoloration and flaking can occur anywhere from three to five years after the plastic resin has been applied, at which time the process would have to be repeated.
People who smoke or drink a lot of coffee are especially susceptible to staining. When it comes to bonding on the back teeth, the process is in its infancy stage and with further improvements can reduce the need for drilling and can be a replacement for silver fillings. What a dentist needs to do is to scrape off the decayed area with a hand tool and then directly apply the resin to the dentin which is a substance beneath the enamel that makes up the body of the tooth.
There is a chance that tooth decay is invited in if there are any defects although bonding continues to be effective as a sealant to correct pits and grooves in the enamel on the back teeth. There are more adults retaining their own teeth and according to the Academy of General Dentistry thirty seven percent of children today have never had a cavity. Even if it seems practical now, it can lead to looming expenses later on.
