Porcelain fillings are also called inlays or onlays. When a tooth is cracked or an old filling is failing, an inlay or onlay is a great option to restore the tooth.
Dentists used to place crowns on cracked teeth, which requires grinding down the existing tooth structure. However, inlays & onlays allow us to be more conservative and keep your teeth intact. We restore only the unhealthy part of your tooth.
Porcelain fillings are ideal for chipped, decayed, or cracked teeth that don’t already have crowns. These fillings last much longer because they’re made of much stronger materials. Many offices offer same-day crowns, and while the technology for this is improving rapidly, Smile Blue Ridge has yet to find a same-day crown option that provides the highest quality standards as our master ceramists do with porcelain fillings.
We generally recommend two appointments for porcelain fillings. During the first appointment, we’ll remove the unhealthy part of the tooth, including any decay, cracks, or old fillings. We take impressions of the tooth and send those to our lab, where our master ceramist creates a perfectly fit piece of porcelain that will fit into your tooth just like a puzzle piece. This porcelain piece will be bonded onto the original tooth during the second appointment, usually 3-4 weeks after the first.This porcelain restores the part of the tooth that was removed, and looks just like the original tooth – or better! When taken care of, these fillings can last decades!
