What Are Inlays and Onlays?

Inlays are used to fill damage within the grooves of a tooth, covering the chewing surface without extending over the cusps (the tooth’s outer edges). Onlays, sometimes called partial crowns, extend over one or more cusps, restoring teeth with more extensive damage. Both inlays and onlays are crafted in our dental lab, ensuring a precise fit and a natural match to your tooth color.

When Are They Recommended?

Our prosthodontists may recommend an inlay or onlay in cases such as:

• Moderate Tooth Decay: Too large for a filling but not needing a full crown.
• Cracks or Fractures: Restores and reinforces the tooth’s structure.
• Replacing Old Fillings: Offers a longer-lasting, stronger alternative.
• Conserving Tooth Structure: Repairs only the damaged portion, preserving more of your natural tooth than crowns.

Key Benefits of Inlays and Onlays

1. Durability and Strength

Our inlays and onlays are made from durable materials like porcelain and composite resin, which can withstand daily biting forces. They are much more durable than traditional fillings, often lasting up to 10 to 30 years with good care.

2. Natural Look and Feel

Inlays and onlays are custom-designed to blend with your tooth color, making them virtually indistinguishable from natural teeth. This makes them ideal for teeth visible when you smile, creating a seamless look.

3. Conserves Healthy Tooth Structure

Unlike crowns, which cover the entire tooth, inlays and onlays replace only the damaged portion, leaving more of your healthy tooth intact. This is crucial for preserving tooth strength and health over time.

4. Enhanced Fit and Comfort

Custom-crafted for a perfect fit, inlays and onlays restore the tooth’s function without discomfort. Their precise fit also prevents food particles and bacteria from getting trapped, lowering the risk of future decay.

5. Less Sensitivity

The materials used in inlays and onlays, porcelain and composite resin, closely resemble natural enamel, making them less likely to react to hot and cold foods than metal fillings. This reduces sensitivity and keeps you comfortable.

The Treatment Process

Receiving an inlay or onlay usually involves two visits. During the first, our prosthodontists will remove any damaged areas and take an impression for the lab. A temporary filling is placed on the tooth, and, in the second visit, the custom inlay or onlay is bonded permanently, ensuring a secure and comfortable fit.

Caring for Inlays and Onlays

Maintaining inlays and onlays involves brushing twice daily, flossing and regular dental checkups. Avoid chewing on hard items like ice or candy to prevent damage, and see our prosthodontists to monitor their condition over time.

Conclusion

Dental inlays and onlays offer a conservative and effective way to restore damaged teeth, combining strength, durability and a natural look. If you are considering this option, talk to our one of our prosthodontists about whether inlays or onlays might be the right solution for achieving a healthier, more radiant smile.

Call to Learn More

Our Denver Restorative Dentistry team in Broomfield, Colorado, encourages you to stay on top of your oral health by scheduling regular check-ups and cleanings and addressing any concerns as soon as they arise. If you would like to know more about how to optimize your smile, please call 303-586-1019 to schedule a consultation with one of our skilled prosthodontists, Drs. Goggins, Aguirre or Chertok.

Our goal is to always give you individualized treatment tailored to your needs so that you can be proud of your smile. Our cosmetic dentistry options are targeted to correct those cosmetic imperfections in your teeth, like cracks and chips, gaps and spaces, discoloration, misalignment and even misshaped, worn teeth. At the same time, we use a conservative approach without sacrificing results. So if you are unhappy or self-conscious about your smile, consider the following options that can give you the smile you want.

Dental Bonding

Dental bonding corrects unsightly flaws in your smile the most conservatively. This is a non-invasive treatment our prosthodontists have been using to create aesthetically pleasing smiles that will make you enjoy looking into a mirror. This tooth-transforming magic is done by placing a tooth-colored composite resin right onto the tooth structure and is shaped and sculpted to fit your tooth and fix any flaws in the way the tooth looks. To complete the process, the resin is hardened and then trimmed and polished to give you a long-lasting, appealing cosmetic restoration for your smile. Another benefit is that it takes only one comfortable and fairly quick visit to do. Before you know it, tooth gaps or spaces are closed, the teeth are shaped attractively, stains are lightened stained and chipped or cracked teeth are repaired.

Dental Veneers

Dental veneers are thin waferlike shells made from porcelain or resin that are bonded to the front teeth to bring out their flawless-looking beauty. We can transform your teeth using these custom-crafted veneers for either one tooth, several or all of them! The beauty of veneers is that they can be used to close gaps and tooth spaces, brighten stained (or discolored) teeth, and even straighten how uneven teeth appear. We can also fix teeth that are a bit curved or twisted so they look so much more attractive.

If you have been thinking about making changes to your smile, there’s no time like the present. Our prosthodontists, Drs. Goggins, Aguirre, Pitz, Poineal and Chertok, are excited to help you get a healthy, fully functional, aesthetically pleasing smile in Broomfield, Colorado that you will be proud to show off. Call 303-586-1019 to learn more!

Cosmetic Tooth Bonding to the Rescue

Tooth bonding is a popular minimally invasive and cost-effective cosmetic treatment option that is also a quick way to improve teeth with minor flaws. The bonding material is applied between the problem tooth’s original enamel and the dentin below it. Once the bonding has been applied it will look and function just like your original tooth did. Our skilled prosthodontists use a shade of composite resin that blends with the original color of your teeth so your smile looks natural. However, If you like, we can use a slightly lighter shade to whiten and brighten the color of your teeth.

Dental bonding uses a tooth-colored putty-like composite material (resin) that is placed onto the tooth, carefully sculpted into shape and is then hardened and polished for beautiful results. This tooth restoration option is typically done in just one visit to the office and is perfect if you have teeth with small cracks, chips, or even gaps between your teeth that make you feel self-conscious when you smile. Once the bonding material is polished, it is permanently bonded to the teeth so when you look into the mirror all you will see is a full, healthy smile!

Why Choose Dental Bonding

This cosmetic dental treatment offers you a variety of cosmetic benefits to give you the smile you want and you won’t have to worry about having orthodontic treatment or trimming down your teeth as you would with dental veneers. You can enjoy dental bonding benefits like these:

• Saves more areas of your tooth enamel
• Repairs damaged or broken teeth
• Closes tooth gaps as needed
• Durable and long-lasting
• Expertly molded and color-matched to your nearby teeth
• Looks natural while blending in with the rest of your teeth
• Is easier to apply than getting dental veneers

When you come in to get one or more teeth bonded, our prosthodontists and team will attach the composite resin material directly onto your tooth where it will be shaped to fit to correct minor flaws in the tooth’s appearance. Once the composite resin is hardened, trimmed and polished, you can look forward to a lasting, aesthetically appealing restoration to complement your smile. Thanks to modern dental technology, dental bonding is typically done in only one visit and requires minimal to no tooth preparation. You can be confident that time in the chair will be quick and comfortable for you.

Call to Schedule a Consultation

You will need to take good care of your teeth with proper brushing and flossing to make them last as long as possible. This conservative dental restoration can beautifully serve your smile for years to come. Our prosthodontists, Dr. Goggins, Dr. Aguirre, Dr. Pitz and Dr. Poineal are excited to help you create the aesthetically pleasing smile you desire and have assisted many others just like you! We welcome you to call our team at 303-586-1019 if you have questions or would like to schedule a visit in Broomfield, Colorado.

Dental Fillings

You have probably already had a dental filling done before and it is one of our most common treatments for tooth issues caused by cavities, fractures or chips in a tooth. By placing a dental filling, our prosthodontists can restore your tooth’s original form and function so your smile can continue to thrive. At Denver Restorative Dentistry, we provide patients with a choice of either amalgam fillings or composite fillings. Both are excellent options for restoring damaged teeth.

When you come in for your dental filling treatment, you will be made comfortable so you can relax while we work. The treatment is done in just one visit to our office. First, we will remove any damaged and decayed areas of the tooth. Then we will clean the area so it is pristine and ready to be filled with your filling material of choice which will be contoured to your tooth’s shape so it can blend right in. Lastly, the filling fill is hardened so it can protect your tooth for many years to come!

Dental Inlays and Onlays

The other options we offer for tooth repairs are inlays and onlays. These are also great at fixing tooth damage and decay. Inlays and onlays are used when a tooth needs more protection than a filling can provide, but not as extensive as to require a dental crown. In fact, inlays and onlays are referred to as partial crowns and are crafted specifically to your tooth using either porcelain, composite resin or gold. Just as with fillings, our goal is to restore your natural tooth’s health, structure, function and looks. Inlays and onlays appear so natural that they are hardly noticeable. They also preserve the structure of your tooth. So when do you need an inlay versus an onlay? We will apply an inlay when the damage doesn’t extend to the cusp of the tooth, while an onlay is applied when there is cusp damage.

Don’t Delay, Call Today!

If you have one or more damaged teeth in your smile, we encourage you to get them evaluated and treated as soon as possible so that you can preserve the natural tooth. Whether you need a dental filling or a dental inlay or onlay, our skilled prosthodontists are ready to take care of all your dental needs. Please give us a call today at 303-586-1019 if you need help with your teeth, gums, breath or TMJ’s (jaw).

One of our specialties is cosmetic dentistry. We know how to correct the flaws in your smile, whether it’s cracked or chipped teeth, unsightly gaps between teeth, stained teeth, misaligned or worn down teeth to improve your smile without sacrificing your tooth and gum health. Our cosmetic dentistry solutions include dental veneers, dental bonding, and teeth whitening – all designed to give you the polished, flawless smile you deserve!

Dental Veneers

These thin porcelain or resin shells are applied to the front of your teeth to correct teeth that are misshapen, chipped or discolored, whether for one or all of your teeth. Dental veneers beautifully close the gaps in your teeth, brighten them, straighten uneven, twisted or curved teeth, as well as fix minor damage teeth.

Dental Bonding

By placing a tooth-colored composite resin material onto a flawed tooth, our experienced prosthodontists can shape and sculpt it to overcome flaws so it looks good again. Once hardened, it is polished and shaped to fit perfectly on the tooth. Bonding is good for closing gaps between teeth, correcting a tooth’s shape, lightening unsightly tooth stains, and restoring teeth damaged by chips or cracks. When finished, your bonded teeth will blend in perfectly with your surrounding teeth!

Teeth Whitening

This treatment expertly whitens and brightens stained or discolored teeth, whether from lax dental hygiene care, aging, consuming staining foods and beverages, tobacco use of any kind, sickness, fluorosis or staining medications. Our prosthodontists will look at your goals to come up with a teeth whitening treatment that works for you and how you want your teeth to appear when it comes to brightness and aesthetic appeal.

Our prosthodontists are skilled cosmetic dental experts and are pleased to customize a smile you have always dreamed of. At Denver Restorative Dentistry in Denver, CO, Dr. Taylor Goggins, Dr. Brian Aguirre and Dr. Anna Pitz are excited to help you achieve a healthy, beautiful self-confident smile!