A Crown Alternative
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, even when you brush, floss, and attend regular dental checkups and cleaning appointments, tooth decay does happen – and sometimes you have so much decay that there is very little of your natural tooth left after it’s been prepared for a filling. This can make your remaining tooth fragile and prone to breaking – or may require such extensive work that a filling just doesn’t make sense or isn’t possible. But, it’s not all doom and gloom – just because your tooth is too damaged for a filling, doesn’t mean you need to have a crown or extraction.
We are always on the lookout for ways to help you keep your teeth while removing as little natural tooth as possible while we restore damaged teeth. That’s why I want to tell you about a treatment that helps you keep your natural tooth, restores large areas of decay, and doesn’t require a crown.
Indirect Fillings
When a tooth is too damaged to accept a filling but not damaged enough to require a crown, dental onlays and inlays present excellent options. These types of dental restorations, which are also referred to as indirect fillings, are used to repair damaged chewing surfaces.
We offer two types of tooth fillings in Batavia, depending on the extent of the damage to your tooth.
- Inlays: In cases where there is no damage to the tooth’s cusps, an inlay will be placed between the cusps (points).
- Onlays: If one or more cusps are fractured, an onlay will be used to restore the damaged cusps.
(Fun fact – bicuspids (the premolars) have two (bi) points (cusps). And now you know!)
Requiring the removal of more tooth material than a filling, but much less material than a crown, onlays and inlays are more durable than fillings and less expensive than crowns. Dental inlays and onlays may be constructed of gold, tooth-colored composite resin, or porcelain.
We will be glad to discuss onlays and inlays and other options available to keep your smile a beautiful, happy one.
At Batavia Family Dental, your local dentist in Batavia, NY, we believe in an informed patient, and we promise to provide you with information regarding all aspects of your dental care. You can always count on our experienced, honest recommendation for the treatment best suited to your dental needs.
Our goals are the same as yours at 6 Batavia City Centre – a healthy mouth and a brilliant smile. Call for an appointment today.
Yours in dental health,
Dr. Steve Sokolovskiy