Everything You Need to Know About Dental Restorations
Dental restorations include a wide array of dental procedures used to fix damaged or unhealthy teeth.
What are Dental Restorations?
Unlike cosmetic dentistry, which is mainly for enhancing the appearance of your teeth, dental restorations focus on repairing or replacing damaged teeth. The goal of restorative dentistry is to improve overall oral health and teeth functioning.
Restoring your damaged teeth will reimpose their natural function while preventing any future damage or decay. Even though dental restorations' main goal is to improve oral health, many restorative procedures also lead to a better-looking smile.
What do Dental Restorations Treat?
Dental restoration is used to remove any damaged or decayed teeth. If you’re unsure about what that means, these are some of the most common reasons that people require dental restorations:
Cavities
Tooth Decay
Broken or Cracked Teeth
Missing Teeth
Types of Dental Restorations
Restorative dentistry is a vast field of dentistry that covers a multitude of dental procedures. Some of the most common types of dental restorations are:
Fillings
Dental fillings are primarily used to treat tooth decay and cavities. They’re also the most common type of restorative dentistry performed on patients. A dental filling involves removing any decayed parts of the tooth and filling it with silver amalgam or composite resin to prevent further decay.
Crowns
As their name suggests, dental crowns are placed atop a tooth like a cap. They help to restore your teeth to their normal size, shape, and function. Crowns are mainly used for treating cavities and weak teeth.
Dental Bridges
Also known as fixed partial dentures, dental bridges are used to replace missing teeth. They consist of a row of false teeth used to fill a gap in your mouth. Dental bridges are held anchored to your mouth by placing crowns on the healthy teeth on either side of the gap.
Dental Implants
Dental implants are commonly used to replace a single missing tooth in your mouth. A dentist places a dental implant using a screw-shaped artificial tooth root that attaches to your jawbone to provide a sturdy base for an artificial tooth.
Dentures
You may be familiar with dentures even if you’ve never seen them up close or had to use them. They are typically used to replace large areas of missing teeth, such as a whole arch or row. Partial dentures can also replace missing teeth in different areas of your mouth.
Most dentures simply rest on your gums and are easily removable. You can, however, opt for implant-supported dentures that attach to dental implants, making them more stable than typical dentures.
Dental Inlays and Onlays
When a cavity is too big to be treated with a filling but too small for a crown, most dentists will recommend using dental inlays or onlays. They are created in a lab and fit into your mouth to fill in any gaps and then permanently bonded into place. While the two are similar, onlays are used when your tooth cusp is damaged, while inlays are used if the cusp is still undamaged.
When to See Your Dentist
Restorative dentistry will improve your oral health, restore your teeth to their natural function, and reduce or completely eliminate any tooth or gum pain. If you're experiencing any new pain in your teeth or have teeth that are decayed, damaged, or missing, contact our office to schedule an appointment.
At One Manhattan Dental, our team is committed to providing exceptional care and world-class dentistry. Whether it’s a basic filling or major reconstructive work, our expert prosthodontists are skilled craftspeople providing custom-tailored results.