Bonding Versus Crowns: The Pros and Cons of Each for a Chipped or Cracked Tooth

Dentist Blog

If one of your teeth is cracked or chipped, your dentist might offer you a choice between having composite bonding or a crown. Each method can restore your smile, but each does come with its own pros and pitfalls.

If you're not sure which is the right option, try reading through this quick overview of the advantages and disadvantages that come with each one.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Dental Bonding

Bonding, more properly referred to as direct composite bonding, involves covering or reshaping the broken area of a tooth with a special solution that is hardened under a heat lamp. Composite bonding is applied directly to the tooth and then shaped while the bonding used for crowns is merely employed to hold the crown in place.

Bonding is perfect for getting a tooth fixed up quickly, with the procedure usually taking only a single visit to complete. There is usually no need for anaesthesia if a chip or crack is being covered, and very little tooth enamel will have to be removed.

That said, composite-bonding materials aren't as strong as crowns, and any damage could bring away some of the original tooth. Additionally, composite materials are usually quite vulnerable to staining since they are more porous than tooth enamel.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Dental Crowns

Crowns are actually a type of bonding themselves, though they are not usually referred to in this fashion. An adhesive bonding procedure, crowns are essentially caps that are fixed over a cracked or chipped tooth, and they come with a number of advantages.

Most importantly, dental crowns are seen as more of a long-term solution than bonding. They are far less likely to be damaged themselves, and you should find a crown lasting for well over a decade if you ensure a proper oral-health regimen is followed. You'll also have a number of options once you've decided on fitting a crown with gold, ceramic, and porcelain-fused-to-metal options all readily available.

However, crowns are usually a lot more expensive than bonding, and more of the original tooth will need to be removed. Furthermore, one of the most unsettling drawbacks that comes with fitting a crown is that they are quite hard to see decay under. Though a crown will cover the remnants of your tooth, it is possible for decay to occur, and this might not even be picked up during an x-ray. If the decay is allowed to develop, you may need to have a root canal or even have the tooth extracted.

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30 November 2016

Dental Checkups: Preparing for Your Checkup

Hi! My name is Sarah, and as a busy professional, I understand the importance of making the most of my time. That includes everything from having productive working lunches to making the most of my dental checkups. I have created this blog to help you maximise your dental checkups. In these posts, you can learn how to prepare for your checkup, which questions to ask during your checkup and more. I am also going to have posts explaining why checkups are critical to your dental health as well as the health of your entire body. Happy reading, and thanks for visiting my blog!