Robert L Nelson, DDS PC
913-498-8899
office@kcdentist.com
Dental Enhancements
Placing a Porcelain Onlay
Like a crown, a porcelain onlay covers and protects the biting surface of a damaged tooth. It will take two or more appointments to restore your tooth with an onlay. That's because it is custom-crafted in a dental laboratory to precisely fit your tooth.
To make the entire procedure comfortable for you, the affected area is numbed with a local anesthetic.
Depending on the size of the filling and the tooth being worked on, a rubber dam may be used. It functions like a safety net, preventing debris from falling to the back of your throat.
Then the decay is removed and the tooth is shaped with the handpiece.
Impressions give an accurate working model of your mouth, including the prepared tooth. This helps re-create your natural bite.
Sometimes, to make a more accurate impression, your dentist puts a small piece of string in the space between the tooth and the gums. This gently pushes the gums away from the tooth.
For the week or two that it takes the dental lab to fabricate your new porcelain onlay, you'll have a temporary onlay in your mouth.
At your next visit, the temporary onlay is removed, and you'll try out your new porcelain onlay.
Then your dentist will check your bite with a colored tape, which indicates where your teeth are coming together, and floss is placed between the teeth to make sure there are no tight spots.
When everything looks good, your new porcelain onlay is cemented in place.