Rush to your dentist. Yeah, you don’t have to live with cracks in your teeth or a broken tooth. A visit to your dentist will help change the way your smile looks. What you dentist will suggest are inlays and onlays. These are a kind of restorative dental treatment that is used to restore cracked and broken teeth.

Inlays and onlays come to the rescue when fillings cannot suffice and crowns are not needed. While an inlay covers one tooth, onlays are spread over the chewing surface of multiple teeth. Inlay and onlays are made of porcelain, gold, or composite resins.

Inlays and onlays are of two types: direct inlays/onlays and indirect inlays/onlays. The direct inlay/onlay is put directly on the tooth. It is then taken out and hardened, and then fixed once again. The indirect inlay/onlay takes longer to be fixed. It is prepared in stages: first a mould is prepared by using a soft material on the tooth; next, the mould helps prepare the actual inlay/onlay in the laboratory. The patient is given temporary filling while the inlay/onlay is being made.

So, what happens in the treatment? When fixing the inlay/onlay, the area around the tooth is numbed using an anesthesia. Then, depending on the type of inlay/onlay required, the procedure is carried. Typically, it requires two visits for the treatment. However, with technological advancements, it is possible to fix a direct inlay/onlay in a single visit.

So, you see you don’t have to live with cracks in your teeth.

Happy smiling!

Tags: inlays, onlays