Are you tired of broken, stained, or chipped teeth? Bonding can make your teeth look like new again without digging a hole in your pocket. Bonding is a cosmetic dentistry procedure in which a tooth-colored composite is applied to the affected tooth, sculpted into the desired shape, hardened, and finally, polished. Dental bonding is a relatively inexpensive way to make minor repairs to the teeth.

The process of dental bonding

Cleaning the tooth
A strong bond cannot be formed unless the surface of the tooth is clean. So, the first step involves polishing the tooth to remove any accumulated debris like dental plaque and tartar.

Preparing the tooth
The amount of tooth shaping required is different for every restoration process. With certain cosmetic applications, little to no trimming may be needed. Whereas on the other extreme, the amount of drilling required may be relatively extensive.

Acid etching the tooth’s surface
Once the tooth has been trimmed, the actual bonding process begins. The next step includes etching the tooth’s exposed surfaces with an acidic tooth conditioner. The conditioner that comes in small syringes is usually a gel that contains 30-40% phosphoric acid. It is spread over the tooth where the bonding material is to be placed. It is allowed to sit there for around 15-20 seconds and is washed off later. The tooth’s surface has now been prepared and is ready to receive the dental bonding.

Applying the bonding agent to the tooth’s surface
The next step involves dabbing the bonding agent onto the surface of the etched tooth using a small applicator or brush. At times, air is also blown gently over the tooth to ensure that the bonding agent has been applied as an even and thin layer over the tooth’s etched surfaces.

Curing the bonding agent
Once the bonding agent has been applied, a curing light is allowed to shine over it. This light is usually blue in color. The curing light activates a catalyst in the bonding agent that causes it to harden after 10-20 seconds of exposure. The bonding agent has now established an initial bond with the tooth’s etched surface.

Creating the restoration
Now that an initial bond has been established with the surface of the tooth, successive layers of dental composite are added to provide the restoration the needed shape and bulk. Once the dental composite has been positioned properly, its setting is fixed using the curing light. The ideal time of exposure needed is 10-40 seconds.

Trimming and shaping the restoration
Dentists usually over bulk restorations on purpose and use their drill to trim it back to the desired shape. The composites are sculpted layer by layer using finer and finer burs, discs, strips, and polishing stones until a smooth and shiny polish has been achieved.

Once this procedure is complete, the dentist will evaluate the patient’s bite to see if the teeth come together and whether or not the restoration interferes with the motion of their mouth. This step concludes the process.