Restorative Dentistry - Onlays

Information About Tooth Onlays

An onlay is a tooth-colored, porcelain restorations that is, in essence, a partial crown.  If large amounts of a tooth are missing due to decay, fracture, or large old filling but there is enough tooth left to support a restoration short of a crown, then an onlay is a very nice restoration.  It is stronger than a large filling and yet more conservative in preparation than a crown.  If the tooth does not need all the protection that a crown provides, then we may recommend an onlay.

 We are very excited here at Biddeford Saco Dental Associates to offer Cerec 3D technology for all of our onlays.  Cerec 3D technology is sometimes referred to as a "single visit crown" because unlike a crown we do not need to take impressions and send out to a lab for fabrication.  Rather, it is all prepared in one visit.  We can recommend to you which teeth will benefit more from crowns or onlays.  For more information about fabrication and design of onlays, see our section on single visit crowns, where we have devoted an entire page to this innovative technology.