After Cosmetic Bonding: Aftercare Guide

You have had bonding done on your front teeth. We added a tooth-coloured material called composite to your tooth and shaped it. The work is finished, and you can use the tooth normally from today.

On this page we explain how to keep your bonding looking good, which things are normal, and when to call us. If anything is on your mind, call us. There is no such thing as calling for nothing.

Note: This page gives general information. If your dentist told you something different, follow what your dentist told you.

After Your Bonding

Bonding sets hard the moment it is placed, so there is no waiting time. There are only a few rules for the first three days. Everything else applies for as long as the bonding is in your mouth.

These Are Normal, Do Not Worry

These are the things our patients ask about most after bonding.

• The colour may look slightly off on the first day. Your teeth stay open to the air during the procedure, so they dry out and look more matt and whiter than usual. Within a few hours your tooth takes its moisture back and the colour match settles. That is why it can look different when you first check the mirror.
• Your tongue will keep going to the spot. Your tongue notices even the smallest change in your mouth. You get used to it within a few days and stop noticing altogether.
• You may have mild cold sensitivity for a few days. This is common after any work done on the tooth surface. It usually settles by itself within a few days. If it does not settle, or it gets worse, let us know.
• Floss may be tight for the first few days. The contact point between the two teeth has been rebuilt, so the floss passes through more tightly. Be patient and slide it out sideways. But if the floss shreds every single time, that is not normal, so call us.
• You may feel a slight roughness at the edge. Your tongue makes differences of a few microns feel enormous. Most of the time there is nothing there. If it still bothers you, we can polish it in a couple of minutes at your check-up.
• If the bonding chips, do not panic. Composite is a repairable material. Most chips are fixed in the same appointment and your tooth is not harmed. You do not need to keep the broken piece. Just call us and book in.

Call Us Straight Away

The following will not settle on their own and get worse the longer you wait. Told early, they are simple to fix.

• If that tooth hits before the others when you bite. The bonding may be sitting a hair's width too high. This feeling does not go away by itself. A surface left high takes a knock every time you bite, which can chip it and strain the tooth. We can correct it in a few minutes.
• If the bonding chips or a piece breaks off the edge. A broken edge can scratch your tongue and lip, and the exposed surface stains faster. Book an appointment without waiting.
• If floss catches or shreds every time. There may be a small ledge at the edge where the floss snags. That spot cannot be cleaned, so over time it becomes a good place for decay to start and for the gum to become inflamed. It is easy to correct.
• If sensitivity does not go away or is getting worse. We need to know about pain that comes with heat, starts on its own or throbs at night. It can be coming from the tissue inside the tooth, and dealing with it early is always easier.
• If the gum around the bonded tooth is red or bleeds when you brush. This can mean there is an area at the gum line that is not being cleaned properly. Come in and we will take a look.

Habits to Watch

• Do not bite hard objects with your front teeth. Ice, hard sweets, pens, fingernails, nuts in their shells. Composite is not built to take that kind of sudden, concentrated force, and it can chip or crack at the edge. Damage like this is not a fault in the work, it comes from use. It can usually be repaired.
• The tendency to stain is permanent, not temporary. Composite is not as tightly structured as enamel and its surface has micro pores you cannot see. Coffee, tea, cigarettes and red wine settle into those pores over the years. Bonding stains more easily than a porcelain crown does. Rinsing with water after a coloured drink reduces the difference.
• Tell us if you clench or grind your teeth. The force landing on the front teeth during night-time clenching can go well beyond normal chewing force. Without a night guard, bonding can chip far sooner than expected. A guard spreads that force out and reduces the risk.
• Stay away from abrasive toothpaste. Most toothpastes with bold names like "whitening", "charcoal" or "smoker" are abrasive. They scratch the polished surface of the bonding and leave it dull. A dull surface picks up more stain, so you brush harder, and things get worse. An ordinary fluoride toothpaste is the best choice.
• Ask us first if you are planning to whiten your teeth. Whitening gel only lightens natural tooth, not composite. If you whiten while you have bonding, the teeth around it get lighter and the bonding stays exactly as it is, so a colour difference appears. The right order is whitening first, then replacing the bonding.

Bonding Compared With Crowns and Veneers

Bonding has real strengths and real limits. Knowing what to expect protects both your satisfaction and the result.

• Bonding takes one visit, crowns and veneers take 3 or 4. With bonding, composite is applied straight onto your tooth and shaped on the spot, finished the same day. Laminate veneers and zirconia crowns are made in a laboratory with try-in stages in between. That usually means 3 to 4 appointments: impression, framework try-in, shade and shape try-in, then bonding them in place. You wear temporary crowns during that time, so you are never left without teeth.
• Bonding does not last as long as porcelain. Composite is not as hard as porcelain, so porcelain restorations generally last longer. How long either one lasts depends on how you use them, and nobody can promise an exact number of years in advance.
• Bonding stains, porcelain resists staining better. This is the weakest point of bonding. Over the years the surface can turn dull and start to hold colour. Polishing corrects it, but the polishing may need repeating from time to time.
• Bonding can be reversed, a crown cannot. Bonding involves almost no work on the tooth itself and can be removed completely if you want to go back. With a crown, some tooth structure is shaped away and there is no going back. This is why bonding is often a better starting point for younger patients and for anyone who is undecided.

Why This Matters So Much

• The composite is glued to your tooth, not fused with it. A special adhesive holds the bonding to the tooth. With normal use that bond lasts for years, but it is not as resistant to a sudden hard knock as natural enamel is. That is the only reason behind the rule about not biting hard things with your front teeth.
• A dark line at the edge is not only a cosmetic issue. A fine line of staining can appear over time where the bonding meets the tooth. Sometimes that is a sign that a microscopic gap has opened at that point. If the gap stays, bacteria get underneath and new decay can start there. It is one of the main things we look at during your six-monthly check-up.
• A rough surface stains faster. The more polished the composite surface is, the less stain it holds. Abrasive toothpaste and a hard brush destroy that polish, the surface roughens, and a rough surface collects plaque and pigment. The polishing we do at check-ups exists to break that cycle.
• A surface left high takes a knock with every bite. A surface that touches before the others carries the force alone, thousands of times a day. That chips the bonding and strains the tooth and the tissue around it. This is why we book you in immediately when you say it feels a little high.
• Any surface you cannot clean is where decay begins. If there is an edge where floss catches or a brush cannot reach, bacteria collect there and the tooth underneath the bonding can decay. For cosmetic work to stay good for your health, those edges have to be smooth and cleanable.

In Short

• First 3 days: no coffee, tea, cola, cigarettes or coloured sauces.
• Always: no hard objects with the front teeth, no abrasive toothpaste, brush twice a day.
• If you grind your teeth, a night guard makes your bonding last longer.
• If it feels high when you bite, call us without waiting.
• A check-up every 6 months with polishing when needed is the cheapest care there is.

How long bonding lasts varies from person to person depending on diet, clenching and oral hygiene, and no exact lifespan can be promised in advance. Chips caused by use, such as biting hard objects, can happen.

You can find our other aftercare guides on the Patient Guides page. If you are also considering crowns, have a look at After Porcelain Veneers and Zirconia Crowns. You can book a check-up through online appointment, and you can reach us on +90 212 823 79 72 with any question at all.