When was the last time that you were in the “Spices” aisle of your grocery store? Were you impressed? Overwhelmed? Depending on what type of store you were in, the options for purchasing herbs and spaces may have been almost innumerable. There were probably options for savoury dishes, sweeter dishes, desserts, beverages, traditional American cooking and every cuisine culture around the world. What is our point? It’s a simple one: in the realm of herbs and spices, you can find precisely the right product for every specific need and culinary project.
The same could be said for dentistry and inlays and onlays in SE Calgary. If you have a tooth that is too badly deteriorated to be fixed with a filling alone but not so badly damaged as to need a crown, your tooth might be in just the right niche for an inlay or onlay.
Onlays and inlays in SE Calgary are made from gold, composite materials and porcelain. A well-prepared inlay or onlay placed onto a properly prepared tooth by a qualified dentist will repair a damaged tooth, protect the healthy portions of your teeth and add strength and stability required to ensure full dental function.
What is the difference between inlays and onlays?
Understanding the difference between these two restorations depends on the location of either option on your tooth. If the restoration is put in the centre of a damaged tooth, it’s an inlay. On the other hand, if the restoration is placed on or over the edge of a damaged tooth, it’s an onlay. Location-aside, dental inlays and onlays near you operate very similarly.
Both restorations can be made out of composites, metals and porcelain materials. Onlays and inlays near you made from composite resin made out of glass-like and acrylic substances can be coloured to match your tooth exactly. You can also get onlays and inlays made from metals — even gold. The strength of the metal option makes it a good option for repairing molars, but their colour means they’re a less popular option for fixing teeth in easy-to-see locations in your smile. Porcelain onlays and inlays are very common because porcelain is so well matched to the colour, texture, sheen and luminosity of healthy teeth.
What is the process of getting an onlay?
The staff at your dental clinic in SE Calgary will administer a local anesthetic to the gums near the tooth being treated to ensure you feel no pain or discomfort.
Your dentist in SE Calgary will remove the decayed, weak and damaged sections of your tooth before roughening up the healthy portions of your tooth to receive the onlay.
Your dentist Inglewood will then take impressions of your prepared tooth (or teeth). Using those impressions as a guide, dental technicians (usually at an external dental laboratory) will craft an onlay precisely to fit your tooth as prepared by your dentist and to solve the dental issue that took you to the dentist in the first place.
A dentist near me will cement your onlay onto your tooth permanently using special dental cement before smoothening and polishing all surfaces to ensure there are no perceptible edges or gaps. A well-positioned, well-prepared and properly maintained onlay will protect your tooth while remaining almost completely imperceptible. As long as you do your part to maintain the health of the underlying teeth and gums, a well-prepared onlay placed on a properly prepared tooth by a qualified dentist will last for a decade or 15 years (similar to a crown and longer than a conventional filling).
Do you have a damaged tooth and aren’t sure how to have it repaired? Contact Destination Dental and ask if an inlay or onlay may be right for you.
