Dental Bonding – Virginia Beach, VA
Correct Minor Aesthetic Imperfections
Do you have a habit of covering up your smile in public or in photos? When you look in the mirror, are your eyes drawn to your smile for all the wrong reasons? When you have chips, gaps, or stains on your teeth, it can be hard to find a reason to smile. That’s why your cosmetic dentist in Virginia Beach offers dental bonding, a procedure designed to correct minor aesthetic imperfections. Keep reading to learn more about what bonding is and how it can help you. If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to give us a call.
What Is Dental Bonding?
Dental bonding, also known as cosmetic or direct bonding, involves using a composite resin (the same material used in tooth-colored fillings) to treat minor aesthetic issues you may have with your smile, such as:
- Chips
- Cracks
- Gaps
- Stains or spots of discoloration
The Dental Bonding Process
We begin the bonding process by numbing the treatment area. Next, we apply an etchant material to create deeper pits and grooves in the surface of the tooth and make room for the bonding material. Then, the composite resin, a highly malleable putty-like substance, is applied directly to the tooth. It seeps into the newly created grooves and pits in the tooth’s porous enamel. Once the material is in the correct shape, a special curing light is used to harden the material into place. This step creates a powerful natural bond between the tooth and the bonding material. Finally, the tooth is smoothed and polished, leaving you with a perfectly flawless smile.
Benefits of Dental Bonding
No treatment is one hundred percent right for every patient. However, if you’re looking for a quick, affordable way to correct numerous cosmetic flaws at once, then direct bonding might be just the treatment for you. Some of the advantages of dental bonding include:
- Saved time: Bonding only takes one appointment that’s about an hour long per tooth, so you don’t need to worry about taking time out of your busy schedule for several appointments to fix your smile.
- Long-lasting results: Once your dentist in Virginia Beach has applied the bonding material to your tooth, it can stay in place for several years. In fact, composite resin can actually strengthen the tooth.
- Minimally invasive: Only a small amount of natural tooth enamel, if any at all, is removed to make room for the composite resin. This makes bonding much more conservative than other cosmetic treatments like dental crowns or porcelain veneers.
- Cost-effective: Dental bonding is completed in just a single appointment with an affordable material. As a result, it should easily be able to fit into any budget.