Onlays
When a tooth is damaged beyond the repair of a filling, dental onlays provide a great conservative option to give you the best chance of restoring your natural tooth’s structure.
Capping a tooth with a crown can lead to unnecessary loss of tooth structure. Dental onlays offered here at Hooper Tooth Conserving Dentistry and carried out by our exceptional professionals, provide a more conservative approach to repairing the natural strength of your tooth.
Onlays are a brilliant way to restore broken, decayed or damaged teeth for a handful of different reasons:
- The restoration preserves as much of the tooth structure as possible
- The onlay is made from composite resin materials, offing a natural and completely unnoticeable looking replacement
- The materials are strong and long lasting
- An onlay bonds to the natural tooth, giving the tooth strength rather than weakening it over time
- They are a lot less expensive than a crown
Onlays in comparison to crowns cover only the portion of the tooth that needs replacing and are sometimes referred to as “partial crowns”.
Onlays and crowns – weighing up the differences
| Onlays | Crowns |
|---|---|
| Preparation | |
| Only requires the removal of defective fillings / weakened tooth structure | 0.5-1.5mm removed from entire tooth’s surface = 63-72% tooth structure loss from teeth in the front of the mouth = 68-77% tooth structure loss from teeth in the back of the mouth |
| Time | |
| 2 visits | 2 visits |
| Provisional | |
| Depending on the size of the defect, a temporary filling may not be necessary | Temporary crown required |
| Design | |
| Small – by hand Large – computer assisted design & milling |
Made by a technician |
| Adjustments | |
| Easy to make changes | Not possible |
| Strength | |
| Similar to natural tooth | Stronger |
| Breakages | |
| Repairable (tooth usually unscathed) | Not repairable (tooth not always salvageable) |
| Maintenance | |
| Regular check ups | Regular check ups |
| Fee | |
| 1/2-2/3 that of a crown fee | |
The Hooper Technique
For smaller restorations:
The onlay is hand-crafted and requires unique expertise to ensure the restoration is specifically matched to the patient’s natural teeth.
For larger restorations:
With 3D computer assisted technology and milling, the onlay is fabricated efficiently from an exceptional material that has out performed other materials in numerous studies.
Understanding your options
The restoration of a deep cavity doesn’t have to be more damaging than necessary. To find out more about how Hooper Tooth Conserving Dentistry is investing in ensuring your teeth remain as natural as possible, book a consultation with us today.
