Porcelain Onlays

With the introduction of newer porcelains, inlays and onlays are being used more frequently now to rebuild damaged teeth. The benefits of white inlays or onlays is they involved less preparation of your tooth, are cost-effective and can be tailored to precisely match the existing colour of your teeth leaving your smile with a natural appearance. In fact, they are virtually indistinguishable to the naked eye. White inlays or onlays can be used to replace larger fillings which have been bonded to your teeth and their amalgam predecessors, as they can distort in divergent temperatures, possibly fracturing and damaging the tooth. Onlays also restore the biting surface of the teeth as well as replacing the old filling that was in the tooth. These restorations are fused onto the remaining tooth.

The newer porcelains we use at Prime Dental have a similar hardness to enamel compared with other porcelains, which are harder than our own teeth. This was a major problem because they would abrade the opposing teeth with time. At Prime Dental CEREC is our preferred method of restoring heavily filled teeth, as it is more accurate and efficient than traditional techniques, with precise restoration being created and fitted in a single visit.

What’s involved?

The tooth is prepared at the first appointment, and impressions are taken so that our CEREC machine can fabricate your restoration in a single visit. We construct a temporary inlay or onlay for you at this appointment.

At the second appointment your new restoration is tried in for fit, appearance and occlusion (fitting in to the bite). All being well, it is then fused into place. We use a rubber dam at this appointment to prevent any moisture contamination during the bonding process.