Veneers are most commonly used to improve the appearance of front teeth. However, in some cases, achieving a beautiful smile also requires correcting the look of the back teeth. Charme Clinique provides highly aesthetic restorations for posterior teeth, including:
- Inlays
- Onlays
- Overlays
These are prosthetic restorations that cover the chewing surfaces of teeth. They are used in cases where caries caused significant loss of tooth structure. If it happens, placing a filling may not be technically possible, due to the lack of suitable tools, or not clinically feasible, as a cavity may be too large to use a traditional filling and it would not provide long-term function.
- Inlay – covers part of the chewing surface of a tooth when the damage from caries does not affect the tooth cusps.
- Onlay – covers the chewing surface and extends over the cusps of a tooth; essentially, it’s a larger inlay.
- Overlay – a very extensive restoration that covers the chewing surface, the cusps, and the proximal surfaces with adjacent teeth.
Inlays, onlays, and overlays for back teeth can be made from composite or porcelain. After removing caries and appropriately preparing the tooth, the dentist takes an impression (similar to what is done for crowns) which is then sent to the dental laboratory. The dental technician creates the restoration from the material specified by the dentist. Once ready, it is returned to the dental office, where the dentist checks the fit and bonds it to the tooth with a special adhesive material.
Advantages of this solution:
- No need for the tooth to be ground down, as is necessary with a prosthetic crown.
- The tooth remains vital; even with significant loss of hard tissue it does not require root canal treatment, which makes it stronger.
- The tooth functions perfectly for proper chewing.
- The restoration allows for a high level of aesthetics – the tooth looks natural and accurately replicates the original tooth shape.