Repairing Chipped Teeth and More

Small issues, such as chipped corners or worn down surfaces, can have drastic effects on the overall appearance of your smile. Fortunately for many of our patients, correcting minor cosmetic issues often requires little more than conservatively changing your tooth’s size, shape, texture, and/or contour. Cosmetic tooth bonding and contouring are minimally invasive procedures that improve your smile’s appearance without the need for extensive dental work. Bonding and contouring can be performed separately or together, depending on your specific needs, and can often offer more conservative options than other cosmetic treatments.

What Is Tooth Bonding?

Tooth bonding is the process of applying tooth-colored composite resin to the surface of a tooth, then shaping the resin to match the tooth’s ideal contour. The custom-tinted resin is then hardened and polished for a highly lifelike and durable finish. Bonding is often recommended to correct a number of issues, such as:

  • Chipped teeth
  • Gapped teeth (diastemas)
  • Pitted teeth
  • Tooth discoloration (which can’t be treated with teeth-whitening)

What Is Tooth Contouring?

Like tooth bonding, contouring is designed to provide maximum smile improvement with minimal changes to your tooth structure. The procedure involves carefully sculpting a small amount of tooth enamel—the outer layer of your teeth—to correct issues such as:

  • Overlapping teeth
  • Jagged edges
  • Minor chips
  • Pointed bicuspids (also referred to as “vampire teeth”)