Treatments

Restorative Dentistry

Restorative dentistry repairs teeth damaged by decay, wear, or injury — most often in a single visit, using a tooth-colored filling material rather than a lab-made crown or bridge.

Ask about restoration

At a glance

Usually one visit

Most restorative treatments are placed and finished in the tooth in a single appointment, with no laboratory step or second visit needed.

Direct, not lab-made

Restorative treatments are placed directly in the tooth. Crowns and bridges are made in a lab and fitted afterward — that's prosthodontics instead.

A filling can last years

A well-placed composite filling commonly lasts around 5 to 10 years, though this varies with its size, location, and oral hygiene.

Tooth-colored material

Composite resin can be shaded to match surrounding teeth, so it's used on both front and back teeth today, unlike old amalgam fillings.

What restorative dentistry covers

Restorative dentistry repairs teeth damaged by decay, wear, or injury using materials placed directly in the tooth, most often finished in a single visit. It ranges from a small filling to rebuilding a fractured tooth with a filling material reinforced by an internal post.

Restorative treatments are usually the first, more conservative option a dentist considers, before moving to an indirect restoration such as a crown — see prosthodontics for that side of tooth repair.

What this covers

Composite fillings

A tooth-colored resin used to fill a cavity or repair a chip after decay is removed. It bonds directly to the tooth and hardens in a single visit under a curing light.

Amalgam replacement

An older silver filling can be removed and replaced with tooth-colored composite for a more natural look, or when it has worn, cracked, or loosened over time.

Composite bonding

The same resin technique reshapes, lengthens, or repairs a tooth's visible surface for cosmetic reasons — closing a gap or smoothing a chip — without the preparation a veneer needs.

Fractured tooth restoration

The repair depends on how much is broken. A small chip is often restored directly with composite; a larger fracture may first need root canal treatment, then a filling reinforced with a post, or a crown.

How treatment goes

Numbing and removing damage

The area is numbed if needed, and any decay or old filling material is removed before the tooth is cleaned and shaped for the new filling.

Placing the material

The tooth-colored composite is placed and cured in layers, usually with a curing light, building up the shape of the tooth.

Checking the bite

Once the filling is shaped and hardened, the bite is checked and adjusted so the tooth feels comfortable when chewing.

Settling in

Mild sensitivity to temperature for a short period afterward is common and generally settles on its own within a few days.

Before you decide

Not sure whether this applies to your teeth?

The only way to know is an examination. Ask a question first if you would rather understand the options before booking anything.

Ask a question

When a filling isn't the answer

Restorative treatment isn’t always the right fit. When a cavity or old filling has damaged too much of the tooth to support a new filling reliably, a crown is generally the next option instead, since it covers and reinforces the whole tooth.

An amalgam filling that is otherwise sound and intact doesn’t need replacing for health reasons — that’s a cosmetic choice, not a medical one. And a temporary filling is only ever a short-term measure between appointments, not a long-term solution.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does restorative dentistry include?

Direct, tooth-colored repairs such as fillings and bonding, placed and finished in the tooth in a single visit. It’s distinct from prosthodontics, which covers lab-made restorations such as crowns and bridges — see prosthodontics for that side of tooth repair.

What's the difference between a filling and a crown?

A filling repairs part of a tooth directly, in one visit, using material placed straight into the cavity. A crown covers the entire tooth and is lab-made, generally used when too much structure is missing for a filling to hold reliably.

Can a chipped tooth be fixed without removing it entirely?

Yes, in most cases. A small to moderate chip is usually repaired directly with composite bonding in a single visit, without removing more of the natural tooth than necessary. Only a more extensive fracture reaching the tooth’s inner nerve typically needs further treatment, such as root canal therapy, first.

How is a gap between teeth (diastema) closed?

Depending on its size and cause, a visible gap — most often between the upper front teeth — can be closed with composite bonding added to the sides of the teeth, with veneers, or in some cases with orthodontic treatment to move the teeth together first.

What is a fiber post, and does every root-canal-treated tooth need one?

A fiber post is a slim reinforcing rod cemented into the root canal space of a tooth that’s already had root canal treatment. It helps anchor a filling when too much natural structure is missing to hold a restoration on its own — not every treated tooth needs one.

Next step