What Are Inlays and Onlays?

 

Restorative dentistry options to protect a cracked or broken tooth include fillings, inlays, onlays and crowns. To many people, fillings are all too common and crowns are relatively familiar. Inlays and onlays may be a lesser-known quantity. The purpose of this brief article is to explain what inlays and onlays are — and how they’re different — while explaining what they can achieve and how to get one. We’ll start by putting them in context alongside the other restorative options.

Four options for restoring teeth

●     Fillings “fill” small holes and cavities in the center area of a tooth’s biting surfaces. Fillings are not appropriate for very large issues affecting the structure of teeth (at least not on their own)

●     Crowns, unlike fillings, cover an entire tooth from the biting surface all the way to the gum line and all the way around the circumference of the tooth. As such, crowns provide structural support to damaged, weak and vulnerable teeth no matter where on the tooth those issues appear

●     Inlays are used to fill, cover and patch larger portions of a cavity, hole or gap on the biting surface of a tooth than could be sealed with a filling, and where that cavity, hole or gap is contained within the cusps of your tooth (entirely within the perimeter of the crown’s edges).

●     Onlays also fill, cover and patch the biting surface of your tooth but are not limited just to the interior of that biting surface like an inlay. An onlay fills, covers and patches areas on the biting surface but also over the “shoulder” or cusp of the tooth and partially down the side of a tooth.

The benefits of inlays and onlays?

While onlays and inlays are considered a rather conservative and somewhat traditional approach to restorative dentistry, they offer several advantages:

●     Compared to a damaged tooth without an inlay or onlay, a tooth with the restoration can withstand biting pressures 50 to 75% higher

●     Both inlays and onlays typically last longer than a filling

●     Inlays and onlays will match the natural colour of your teeth because they’re made from porcelain or compound resins

●     Inlays and onlays are a more economical restorative dentistry option than a crown

●     Inlays and onlays are designed and crafted to fit securely but snugly against and within the profile of your tooth so that they add no bulk that could press against or irritate your lips, tongue, or cheeks

What’s the process of getting inlays or onlays?

Getting inlays & onlays in Dryden is usually a two-appointment process. At the first appointment, the staff at your dental office in Dryden will remove any decay from the tooth at issue and take an impression to guide the technicians’ creation of the restoration. Depending on the location and extent of the damage to your tooth, your dental clinic in Dryden may provide you with a temporary filling to protect the tooth while the inlay or onlay is being prepared. At your second appointment, your dentist in Dryden will remove any temporary filling before permanently placing the inlay or onlay on your tooth and bonding it in place.

Some dental clinics can provide same-day inlays & onlays in Dryden by using computer-aided design and manufacturing that sends digital images to a milling machine in the clinic. That machine will mill your onlay or inlay from a block of ceramic while you wait.

If you want to know whether onlays or inlays near you are appropriate for solving any issues with your teeth, contact a dentist near you to schedule a consultation. If inlays and onlays aren’t an ideal solution, the dentist will certainly be able to offer better alternatives.