Dental Crowns Vs. Bonding For Damaged Teeth

If your tooth is chipped, cracked, broken, or sustained any sort of damage, you have lots of treatments available that can help restore the tooth and prevent an extraction.

In this short blog post, let’s go over some of the most popular ways to restore a damaged tooth, and see which one might be more beneficial to you: dental bonding and dental crowns.

What Is Dental Bonding?

Dental bonding is a reconstructive procedure that uses a special resin to reshape a tooth. It’s commonly used in cosmetic dentistry to:

• Address misshapen or irregularly seized tooth
• Fix a crack or a chip
• Remove gaps between teeth, etc.

The resin is applied directly on the damaged tooth and shaped by the dentist. Then, it is hardened using a special light.

Bonding is an accessible way to restore a mild to moderately damaged tooth, and results can last around 5-10 years.

What Are Dental Crowns?

Dental crowns are small caps that go over a damaged tooth. They are commonly used to restore a tooth after severe damage when the tooth has lost a lot of tissue.

For example, dental crowns are often needed after a root canal procedure. If the dentist needs to remove a lot of tissue, what’s left may not be enough to provide enough support when chewing. A dental crown can effectively fix that.

Which One Is Better?

Both dental crowns and dental bonding are effective ways to deal with a damaged tooth. But to understand which one you need, it's worth looking at them side by side:

• The extent of the damage - If you are dealing with severe damage, then your dentist will likely recommend a crown to restore your tooth. While effective, bonding might not provide enough strength to the tooth in cases of large cracks or fractures;

• Effects on natural teeth - Dental bonding does not affect the natural tooth at all. It’s simply applied over it and hardened, but it can be removed later on. Dental crowns, however, require the tooth to be completely resized. This is why it’s not recommended to opt for crowns when your teeth are healthy;

• Durability - Dental crowns outperform bonding in terms of durability. Crowns can last for 10-15 or more, depending on the material they’re made from and patient maintenance. Bonding, on the other hand, generally lasts up to 10 years even with good oral care, before it will need some retouching.

Still Not Sure Which One You Need? Our Thousand Oaks Team Can Help

If you are dealing with dental damage, Dr. Stephen Woodall can help you access top dental care to restore your smile! Whether you would like dental crowns, bonding, or something like dental veneers in Thousand Oak, we can help! 

Find out if dental crowns or bonding is right for you by scheduling an appointment at Stephen Woodall Family Cosmetic & Implant Dentistry online!

Have more questions about our services? Don’t hesitate to call us at 805-496-9775 for a short chat.