Restoring your smile with porcelain restorations

Are you looking for a way to restore the function of your smile without affecting the appearance of your smile?

In the past if you wanted a filling it was made from amalgam and required significant amounts of heathy tooth structure to be removed. They also came with a risk of cracking your tooth—because amalgam expands and contracts with varying temperature—and decay could form beneath the amalgam filling.

Now, with modern dentistry it is now easier than ever to provide restorations that look and feel like your natural teeth.

Amalgam fillings have been replaced with composite fillings. While composite, or white, fillings may not last as long as amalgam fillings, they are a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing restoration because:

• Where amalgam required healthy tooth structure to be removed, composite fillings only require your dentist to remove the decay.
• Where amalgam presented the potential risk of cracking your tooth, composite fillings don not.
• Where amalgam fillings did not completely fill the decayed tooth, composite material fills the tooth minimising the chance of decay

Porcelain dental crowns

When it comes to protecting a damaged tooth, dental crowns are often the best option. Depending on which tooth needs a dental crown, Michelle Enmark, DDS offer porcelain crowns. These are matched to the shade and color of your teeth so they blend in. The dental crown acts as cap that goes over the damaged tooth providing protection and preventing further harm.

If the tooth that needs a dental crown is one of your molars, an all-porcelain crown will not be a viable option because of the pressure exerted on your back teeth. In this case a metal or gold crown with a porcelain coating is the best option. This way you still have the aesthetics of a porcelain crown with the strength, durability and functionality of a metal crown.

Porcelain veneers

At Michelle Enmark, DDS we offer a variety of porcelain restorations to provide patients with an aesthetically pleasing smile. One of those treatments is porcelain veneers. These are thin shells that are bonded to the front of your teeth, and are perfect for concealing minor chips and imperfections as well as discoloration. Porcelain veneers take two appointments to place, are stain resistant and are color-matched to your natural teeth.

Porcelain restorations and tooth whitening

Before undergoing restorative dental work we strongly recommend you consider the color of your natural teeth. We say this because tooth whitening treatments have no effect on porcelain restorations. So if you decide later down the track you want to get your teeth whitened it is going to look awkward.

When you visit Michelle Enmark, DDS one of our friendly dentists will assess your oral health and determine what the best form of treatment for you is. To find out more about how we can help you, or to book an appointment, please contact us today.