Cosmetic Dentist in Moreno Valley, CA

Bonding and tooth-colored fillings

Small cosmetic fixes that usually take one visit

Not every cosmetic concern needs porcelain. Some of the most satisfying changes at the Canyon Springs office are small ones done with composite resin — the same tooth-colored material used for modern fillings.

Dental bonding

Resin is applied in layers, shaped by hand, hardened with a curing light and polished. It is well suited to a chipped front tooth, a small gap, a tooth that is slightly short, or a dark spot near the gumline. Usually little or no enamel is removed and no numbing is needed.

Replacing old silver fillings

Composite fillings bond directly to the tooth and are shade-matched to it. Some patients ask to swap old metal fillings for tooth-colored ones for appearance; others need a filling replaced because it has cracked or decay has started around its edges. The exam and X-rays show which, and replacement is recommended when there is a clinical reason — not simply because a filling is silver.

What to expect over time

• Bonding can pick up stains from coffee, tea and tobacco more readily than porcelain.
• It may chip if used to bite hard objects, and can be repaired by adding material.
• Polishing at regular cleanings keeps its surface smooth and bright.
• The resin is shade-matched on the day it is placed; it will not change color along with the teeth around it.

The office is at 2712 Canyon Springs Pkwy, Suite 3, Riverside, in Canyon Springs, open Monday 10 AM to 5 PM and Tuesday through Friday 9 AM to 5 PM. The 9 AM start from Tuesday to Friday leaves room for a quick bonding appointment before work. Free parking throughout the Canyon Springs plaza lot, with accessible spaces near Suite 3. Patients come from Moreno Valley, Canyon Springs and east Riverside.

Beyond bonding

When the cosmetic problem is a missing or crooked tooth

A missing front tooth

A gap is the one cosmetic problem that is also a functional one. It can be filled with a dental implant, which stands on its own in the bone, or with a bridge supported by the teeth beside it. Both are done at this office, and the exam shows which suits your mouth.

Teeth that are healthy but crooked

If the teeth themselves are sound, moving them may achieve more than covering them. Invisalign near Moreno Valley is planned here from a digital scan, and early check-ins suit people who would rather be done before work.

A tooth that is cracked or heavily filled

When a front or back tooth is more filling than tooth, bonding or a veneer will not hold it together. A porcelain crown covers and strengthens it and is shade-matched to its neighbors; it takes two visits, with a temporary in between.

Choosing the shade together

Whether it is bonding, a veneer or a crown, the shade is picked with you in the chair, compared against the teeth on either side, and you see how it looks before anything is bonded or cemented. If it does not look right to you, say so then; it is far easier to change at that point than afterwards.