While therapeutic options such as fillings and crowns can address issues such as dental decay and cavities, there are also less invasive options for specific patients called dental inlays and onlays. Here at The Hope Dental Care Centre, Dr. Far, and Gang Wang, and the team provide patience with inlay and onlay restoration offering ceramic inlays and onlays and composite inlays and onlays to repair teeth with minimum intrusion.

The Main Differences between Dental Onlays and Inlays

Most of the time, your dentist may use fillings to address small cavities while using crowns when the hole is more profound or if the tooth has a large fracture that needs to be addressed. But, there can also be situations when a regular filling cannot get the job done, and a dental crown is far too extensive to treat the issue. 

That’s when a dentist will use the right dental onlays and inlays to cover those “in-between” issues that either fillers or crowns can’t solve. They cover more than regular fillers but less than dental crowns. 

The main difference between onlays and inlays is that inlays are used to fill hollows and cavities within a tooth inside specific areas between the tooth cusps. At the same time, an onlay fills in the holes and incorporates more of the tooth, including the cusps, while not covering the tooth’s entire surface. 

Both treatments involve using the same materials, and both essentially serve the same purpose but cover different portions of your tooth, ensuring proper protection from further tooth decay.

How Are Inlays and Onlays Applied?

With inlays, they are moulded and then fitted directly into your tooth’s chewing surface that has damage caused by an injury or decay. Inlays are made using an imprint of your tooth’s impact areas that are sent to a laboratory for manufacturing.

The inlay fits in precisely but will not cover the tooth’s cusps. Inlays can be made of either a composite or porcelain material and are generally more robust than standard fillings. 

Onlays are designed to cover areas too big to be treated by standard fillings but not enough to warrant a full crown. They are placed much like crowns using a temporary onlay to stay in place until your permanent onlay is ready. They, too, are made using either composite or porcelain material and are also known as “partial crowns.”

Learn more about the benefits of Inlays and Onlays

To find out more about inlays and onlays to see if they can address your dental concerns, please contact The Hope Dental Care Centre at (343) 803-6333 to schedule your consultation with Drs. Farkhondeh, and Wang. Our office is conveniently located at 500 Hazeldean Rd Suite 107, Kanata, ON.