Composite bonding in Maida Vale

What composite bonding does

Composite bonding uses a tooth-coloured resin, shaded to match your own teeth, sculpted by hand onto the tooth and set hard with light. It closes small gaps, rebuilds chipped corners, evens out worn or zig-zag edges, hides discoloured patches and reshapes peg-shaped or slightly crooked teeth.

Because nothing is drilled away, the treatment is fully reversible and your own enamel stays intact. It is the least invasive of all cosmetic dental procedures and the one we recommend most.

Bonding versus veneers

Porcelain veneers need a thin layer of tooth removed and take two visits with a laboratory in between. Bonding needs neither. It is done in one sitting, costs a fraction of the price and can be repaired easily if you ever chip it. For most patients wanting to tidy the front six to ten teeth, bonding is the answer. Where teeth are heavily stained or badly shaped, veneers may be the better long-term choice, and we will tell you honestly which is which.

What it cannot fix

Bonding adds material to the front of a tooth, so it is excellent at building an edge back up, closing a gap or squaring off a worn corner. It cannot move a tooth. Where a tooth sits well out of line, bonding it into apparent alignment means making it much thicker than its neighbours, and thick composite looks bulky and catches the light wrongly. In those cases we will suggest straightening first with Invisalign and then bonding, which nearly always uses less material and looks better.

It also will not lighten a dark tooth from the inside, and it is the wrong answer for a tooth that is heavily broken down or root-filled, where a crown or veneer carries the load properly. We would rather turn a bonding case away than hand you something that chips in a year.

How long it lasts

Well looked after, composite bonding lasts five to ten years and often longer. It is slightly softer than enamel, so avoid biting nails, pens and ice, and see the hygienist regularly to keep the margins clean. We guarantee all cosmetic bonding for three years.

Why patients choose Shirland for composite bonding

Before and after

Real Shirland patients treated with composite bonding. Drag to compare.

What to expect