Restorative Dentistry

Repairing teeth that are already damaged

Restorative dentistry covers the treatments that rebuild a tooth after decay, a crack, or years of wear. Fillings, crowns, bridges, inlays and onlays, and root canal therapy all sit here.

The goal is always to keep as much of your natural tooth as possible. A repaired natural tooth still outperforms any replacement, so at Roseborough Dental we favour the most conservative treatment that will actually hold. That means matching the repair to the damage rather than defaulting to the largest option.

White fillings

White fillings use a tooth-coloured composite resin rather than the silver-grey amalgam used for decades. Two things make them the usual choice now.

They match your natural tooth colour closely, so they are barely visible. They also bond chemically to the tooth structure, which strengthens the remaining tooth and helps seal against further decay.

Composite costs more than amalgam and takes longer to place, since it goes in layer by layer. Amalgam remains very durable and can last longer in some situations, which is worth knowing when we discuss your options. We will explain what suits your specific tooth, its position and how much structure remains.

Inlays and onlays

Sometimes decay is too extensive for a filling, but the tooth does not need the full coverage of a crown. That gap is where inlays and onlays fit.

An inlay sits within the cusps, meaning the raised points on the biting surface of your tooth. An onlay is larger and covers one or more of those cusps. Both are made in a dental laboratory from impressions of your teeth, using porcelain, gold or composite resin.

Compared with a large filling, they are more durable and less likely to break, which matters because a fractured filling opens the door to more decay underneath. They also preserve more natural tooth than a crown does.

Bridges

A bridge replaces one or more missing teeth. It consists of a replacement tooth held by crowns on the healthy teeth either side of the gap.

Replacing a missing tooth does more than fill a space. Neighbouring teeth drift toward a gap over time, which changes your bite and makes cleaning harder. A bridge holds the alignment, restores chewing, and supports clearer speech.

The trade-off is that the supporting teeth must be reshaped to hold the crowns. An implant-supported bridge avoids that, and we will talk through both routes so you can weigh cost, timeline and how much you want to preserve those neighbouring teeth.

Root canal therapy, done in house

When infection or damage reaches the pulp, the living tissue inside a tooth, root canal therapy removes it, cleans the space and seals it. The tooth is usually crowned afterwards, because a treated tooth becomes more brittle.

We complete root canal therapy at our own office, so most patients finish treatment with us rather than being referred elsewhere. The reputation this treatment has is largely outdated. For most patients it relieves pain rather than causing it, since the pain that brought them in was the infection.

Full-mouth restoration

Some patients need more than one tooth addressed, whether from long-term wear, grinding, multiple failing restorations or years without dental care. A full-mouth restoration plans that work in sequence, in a defined order and at a pace that suits your budget rather than all at once.

We start with an examination and imaging, then map out what needs doing first and what can wait.

Caring for your restorations

Brush twice daily with a soft-bristled brush, floss daily including around crown and bridge margins, and keep up regular examinations so we can spot a worn or failing restoration before it fails outright. Avoid biting ice and pens, and ask us about a nightguard if you grind, since grinding shortens the life of every restoration.