All About Dental Onlays

Dental Onlays are used when a tooth is too damaged to just repair but not damaged enough to require extraction. Capping a dental problem with a crown may require removing more of the healthy tooth than is necessary, and the dentist will use the onlays to avoid having to do so. This helps you avoid excessive dental treatment that is not completely necessary. Onlays fall in that category between fillings and having a total crown put on your tooth. These onlays will help restore larger cavities without having to crown (cap) the tooth. One of These Things is Not Like the Other: Dental inlays and onlays are similar in restoration processes but cover different properties of the damaged tooth. A dental inlay fills in the space created by the decay from the cavity whereas an onlay covers the cusps of the tooth or the layer across the top of the tooth. The inlay goes inside, the onlay goes on top is the essential difference. These are often also known as “partial crowns”. Direct Responses to Your Dental Problems: There are two types of dental restorations and those are indirect and direct. The direct restorations are made right in the office by your normal dentist during a regular appointment and indirect restorations are made in a science laboratory. Dental onlays are often qualified as indirect restorations but they may be done in the offices as well sometimes based on your dentists’ knowledge and experience. The onlay typically involves the following procedures: Indirect Onlays: your dentist will prepare the tooth in the first appointment by removing any tooth decay. They will take impressions of the tooth and they will ship those to the dental lab to be processed. After a few days, the dentist will get the onlay back but in the meantime, they will give you a temporary filling to allow your tooth to be protected till the onlay is put on. During the second visit the onlay will be cemented into place on the tooth. Direct Onlays: your dentist will be able to use the same preparation and the tooth will be filled with a composite resin material and the filling will be put into the oven hardened, created into a mold, and applied to the tooth. There is also a high-tech option to make these onlays now through a system called CEREC that is done through 3D computer imagery right in the dental office by simply taking a picture of the tooth and the dentist will create the needed onlays right there in the office. No impressions, fillings, or second appointment needed unless you need touchup work! In Conclusion: Whether you think you need a filling or dental onlay there is one certain thing: this is an easier, less invasive option than requiring the removal of part of the healthy tooth to put a crown on it when a less invasive procedure works fine as well! If you have any questions or would like to learn more about us visit us here or call us 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”