Conservative Alternatives to Traditional Crowns

Conservative Alternatives to Traditional Crowns

Dr. Bruce Crispin and Dr. Kristi Crispin take pride in providing the most conservative restorative dentistry possible. Using this philosophy allows us to minimize unnecessary destruction and provide our patients with smart conservative choices for their oral care. This is why we recommend and treat many of our patient’s posterior teeth with conservative alternatives such as inlays and onlays and avoid unnecessary and destructive crowns.

What are Inlay and Onlays?

When a tooth is structurally compromised and cannot be restored with a direct white tooth filling, yet is not compromised enough for a crown the best alternative is a more conservative inlay or onlay. It is imperative to us that our patients understand that capping or crowning a tooth removes an extensive amount of tooth structure unnecessarily and we have a solution. At Dr. Crispin’s office we recommend dental inlays and onlays for these types of circumstances. Dental inlays and onlays are dental restorations that are used to restore back teeth that have old amalgam (silver) restorations, decay too large for tooth fillings and cracked or fractured teeth that are not severe enough for a dental crown. An inlay fills the inside of the tooth and an onlay wraps around one or more of the cusps. These types of restorations do not cover the entire tooth only the portion of the tooth that is missing due to decay or fracture.

At the first appointment Dr. Crispin removes the portion of the tooth that is decayed or missing and prepares the tooth for a new inlay or onlay. A mold is taken of the preparation and this mold is sent to our in house dental laboratory for fabrication. Our in house custom ceramist will determine the correct shade of the prepared tooth to ensure that the dental inlay or onlay will almost be undetectable. At the subsequent appointment the new inlay or onlay restoration will be delivered.

Material Choices

Inlays and onlays are usually made from porcelain, composite resin, or sometimes gold. One of the key esthetic benefits from this type of restoration is that they can be created to mimic the existing tooth, thus allowing the patient to have the natural looking smile they have always desired. They are also bonded to the natural tooth structure restoring the tooth back to its original form, function and strength. The strong bond between the tooth and the inlay or onlay interface prevents bacteria from penetrating into the tooth surface causing decay.

Please come in for a FREE “Meet and Greet” consultation and visit with our expert dentists to see which conservative treatment is right for your oral care needs.

Please see our smile gallery for photos of many of these amazing transformations.