tooth coloured restorations/filling materials and techniques

Modern techniques allow all sound tooth substance to be left intact, cleaned with air abrasion for a better bond and restored using composite tooth coloured materials.

These materials are now so strong that they are often used where previously a crown would have been the only choice which would have meant the removal of much more tooth. Better, simpler, cheaper and repairable if decay continues.

An added benefit of bonded restorations is that they hold teeth with minor cracks together.

For front teeth different blends of the composite replicate almost exactly the optical properties of natural enamel and dentine. If the correct shade is chosen, the result is often invisible.