Composite bonding in Pinner, North West London

• Adults with healthy teeth and gums who want to change tooth shape, chips or small gaps
• Patients who want a reversible or minimally invasive option before considering veneers
• Patients whose tooth position has already been corrected, or does not require correction

• Chipped or worn edges
• Small spaces between teeth
• Uneven tooth shape or proportions
• Localised discolouration
• Peg-shaped or narrow lateral incisors

• Full examination of teeth, gums and bite before any cosmetic work
• Clinical photography and, where indicated, intraoral scanning
• Assessment of tooth wear and its cause — bonding placed onto an unmanaged wear pattern will chip
• Discussion of whether alignment should be corrected first

1. 01

   Assessment and planning

   Records are taken and a design is planned against your facial and dental proportions.

2. 02

   Preparation

   Teeth are cleaned and isolated. In most cases little or no tooth tissue is removed.

3. 03

   Layering

   Composite is applied in layers, sculpted and cured to build the planned shape.

4. 04

   Finishing

   Contours are refined and the surface is polished so it reflects light like enamel.

5. 05

   Review

   A short review appointment checks the bite, comfort and finish.

Bonding works best on a healthy, stable foundation. These are the situations where I would usually advise something else first, or instead.

• Active decay or gum disease. These are treated and stabilised before any cosmetic material is placed.
• A genuine tooth-position problem. Where teeth are crowded, rotated or flared, alignment usually achieves the change with less material and less risk of bulky results.
• Unmanaged grinding, wear or a heavy bite. Composite placed onto an active wear pattern tends to chip, so the cause is assessed and managed first.
• Large structural loss. Where much of the tooth is missing or heavily filled, a ceramic or restorative approach is often more predictable.
• Expectations bonding cannot meet. Composite needs periodic polishing and will not hold colour indefinitely; if that does not fit, we discuss alternatives honestly.

When teeth are out of position, bonding can only disguise the problem by adding material. Correcting position first usually means thinner, more natural bonding, less risk to healthy enamel and proportions that stay within a natural range.

Whitening is completed before bonding because composite does not change colour once placed. The documented cases below show this sequence, and one where alignment and whitening alone were enough, so no bonding was placed.

• Aligner treatment, whitening and edge bonding for crowding

  Position was corrected first with Invisalign, then whitening set the final shade, and composite bonding refined edge shape and proportion last. Sequencing in that order meant the bonding could be matched to the finished shade and no healthy tooth was removed.

• Aligner treatment, whitening and bonding to close spacing

  Invisalign redistributed the spaces so that the remaining gaps were small and evenly placed, whitening established the final shade, and composite bonding then closed those spaces and rebuilt the worn edges with a minimal volume of material.

• Invisalign and whitening

  The result was achieved without adding any material to the teeth. Alignment corrected position and whitening corrected shade, which is the least invasive combination available for this presentation. No bonding or ceramic work was recommended, because none was needed.

Published ranges for direct composite restorations are commonly quoted at around five to seven years before repair or replacement, though this varies considerably with bite, diet, habits and maintenance.

• Routine hygiene appointments
• Polishing as advised to refresh surface lustre
• A night guard where grinding is present
• Avoiding biting hard objects with bonded edges