When restoring your heavily decayed tooth or replacing an old, ill-fitted restoration, inlays and onlays are a preferred treatment that helps you restore the tooth’s natural look while preserving its strength, allowing you to chew all your favorite foods without worry!
Our team takes a biomimetic approach, ensuring our patients choose the perfect treatment tailored to their specific needs while saving as much of the tooth structure as possible. That’s why we recommend inlays and onlays over more invasive options like crowns.
What Are Inlays and Onlays?
Inlays and onlays are restorative treatments used to restore a heavily decayed tooth or replace a large, ill-fitted restoration, helping to improve aesthetics, strength, and functionality. These custom-made prosthetics, crafted from materials such as porcelain, ceramics, composite resin, or gold, are specifically designed to fit on the chewing surfaces of the back teeth. While both inlays and onlays share similar features, there’s a tiny difference between them; inlays are preferred when the decay or the old restoration doesn’t extend beyond the cusp tips, so they are placed within the cusps, while onlays, also referred to as partial crowns, are placed over a larger area of the affected tooth, covering one or more cusps.
Why Are Inlays and Onlays Preferred Over Traditional Fillings?
Although traditional fillings could be a good choice for restoring the affected teeth’s aesthetics and functionality, inlays and onlays show numerous benefits over fillings, including
More Durable
Inlays and onlays are often made of durable materials, like porcelain or ceramics, which strengthen the remaining tooth structures, allowing you to save your natural tooth for years to come. In contrast, traditional fillings are more susceptible to fracture or dislodgement when applying frequent or sudden forces during mastication.
Restoring Larger Areas of the Affected Tooth
Some patients might have extensive tooth decay or large cavities, making traditional fillings less than ideal. Here comes the role of onlays, offering a durable prosthetic option that provides adequate support and strength to the affected tooth.
Better Aesthetics
Most inlays and onlays are crafted from high-translucency materials like porcelain and ceramics, carefully selected to match the affected tooth’s natural shade. These prosthetics are more visually appealing than traditional fillings, particularly metallic ones.
Resistant to Stains
Unlike traditional fillings, inlays and onlays offer a high resistance to stains. This means you can rest assured that the color of your restoration won’t change over time, preserving the aesthetics of your tooth.
Are Inlays and Onlays Better than Crowns?
At our office, we adhere to conservative or biometric dentistry, ensuring our patients choose the least invasive procedures while receiving high-quality treatment. Inlays and onlays offer several advantages over crowns, which include:
Preserving Your Natural Teeth and Gums
Inlays and onlays are more conservative for teeth than crowns since they require less tooth preparation and shaping. However, crowns might induce gum inflammation, which in turn affects periodontal health.
Reduced Sensitivity
While crowns typically involve extensive tooth preparation, which can lead to post-operative tooth sensitivity—especially if the temporary crown becomes dislodged or fractured—inlays and onlays offer a different story. These prosthetics minimize potential chances for tooth sensitivity, providing a more comfortable experience for patients.
Cost-Effective
Since inlays and onlays require less material and chair time during fabrication, they may be less expensive than crowns.
Am I a Good Candidate For Inlays and Onlays?
Determining your eligibility for these prosthetics mainly depends on your clinical situation. We advise you to schedule an initial consultation to develop a custom treatment plan that best suits your case. However, these prosthetics are recommended for patients with either extensive tooth decay or old, large restorations.
What Is the Process of Getting Inlays and Onlays in Olympia?
Following a thorough examination, our team will assess whether inlays or onlays are ideal for your case.
Dr. Xu will then prepare the cavity by removing any decayed or old restorations, ensuring precise preparation for the prosthetics.
Next, a precise impression of the prepared tooth will be taken and sent to the lab to fabricate a custom inlay or onlay.
Once milled, these prosthetics are bonded to your tooth using strong resin adhesives, restoring optimal aesthetics and functionality to your smile.
Are you wondering if you’re a good fit for inlays or onlays? Call us today at (360) 995-0025 to schedule an appointment, or click the button below.
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