Cosmetic Bonding in Greenwich, CT

Bonding is a tooth-colored composite added onto the enamel rather than cut into it, which makes it our first suggestion for a chipped corner, a worn edge, or a narrow gap between the front teeth. Nothing is removed to make room for it, so if you are ever unhappy with the result, it can be taken off and the tooth remains as it was.

We choose the shade against your neighboring teeth in natural light rather than from a chart, then build the composite up in thin layers so the color shifts naturally from the body of the tooth to a more translucent edge. We check the shape against your lip line, the tooth beside it, and the way your teeth meet when you bite, so it reads as your tooth rather than as a repair.

Because composite is shaped by hand at the chair, the result is matched to the tooth in front of us rather than made in a lab, and it is designed to be refreshed over time. Composite is softer than porcelain, so it is polished and touched up over the years rather than replaced outright. For a younger patient, or for one small correction, that is often the better choice than preparing a tooth for porcelain.

Bonding suits small chips, unevenly worn edges, a narrow gap, or a tooth that sits slightly short of its neighbor. It is not the right answer for a whole front row, for staining you would rather lift than cover, for teeth that need to be moved, or for a tooth missing enough structure that it needs full coverage — those are conversations about veneers, whitening or aligners, and we tell you so at the visit rather than stretching bonding to fit.

Afterward, bonding is polished at your regular hygiene visits, which is where most of its upkeep happens. Coffee, red wine and tobacco can dull the surface over time, and an edge is far more likely to chip from biting nails, pens or ice than from ordinary eating. When an edge does chip or the surface loses its shine, we smooth and add to it rather than starting over.