When a patient hears about microprosthetics, he most often imagines work that is done under a microscope or that uses a minimal amount of material. To some extent, it is.
With micro-prosthetics, the dentist actually uses a small amount of material.
Simply put, microprosthetics is a dental procedure during which the doctor restores the damaged part of the dental tissue using inlays (internal dentures) or onlays (veneers).
Dental tabs
Today, microprosthetics is a very popular procedure that is being improved every year, because it is at the junction of therapeutic dentistry (tabs are used instead of filling materials) and orthodontic (tabs can significantly improve the appearance of the dentition). Microprosthetics includes more restoration of dental tissues than their prosthetics.
As a rule, dentists resort to this method of teeth correction in cases where therapeutic dentistry cannot bring the desired result.
Often, microprosthetics is used in aesthetic dentistry, that is, if the tooth is healthy, but its appearance is poor.
So, dentists distinguish two types of microprosthetics : using inlays and onlays. An inlay for micro-prosthetics of a tooth is a most accurately created copy of the tooth cavity, made of a strong material (usually metal, composite material or ceramics).
Thanks to the inlays, the dentist can help the patient solve many of his dental problems:
- tabs improve the aesthetic appearance. Today you can pick up tabs that will practically not differ in color and texture from a natural tooth. But this is so important for a person who wants to smile, not embarrassed at the same time by his smile;
- they restore the structure of the tooth. When the structure is restored in a person, the ability to fully chew food returns first of all;
- strengthening of dental tissues. This function plays a very important role in the implementation of further prosthetics, which will be performed, for example, using cermets. If the patient requires the installation of crowns, then the dentist must first grind the top layer of the tooth. The insert for micro prosthetics makes the tooth more resistant to such a procedure, as a result of which the likelihood of injury is significantly reduced.
Every year, dentists invent more and more new types of composite materials, so today they are endowed with all the necessary qualities:
- they are easy to polish;
- have high strength;
- resistant to abrasion;
- have high aesthetic features (today, inlays cannot be distinguished from natural tooth tissues).
It is for these reasons that dental inlays have gained popularity so quickly. A few decades ago, inlays were made of gold and several other materials. Gold inlays are also durable and high quality, but they are too expensive and have a very unaesthetic appearance.
Today, gold teeth are out of fashion, because they were replaced by ceramics and composite materials.
Microprosthetics with veneers
Another way of microprosthetics is veneer . The word veneer itself is translated as lining, protective coating. It looks like the thinnest ceramic plate that is attached to the outer part of the tooth.
Using veneers, dentists have the opportunity to solve two problems in the shortest possible time:
- create a perfect, white smile;
- protect dental tissues from damaging effects.
From this, one can guess that veneers are used to treat certain dental diseases (for example, pathological abrasion of enamel or its increased sensitivity) and to create the ideal appearance of a smile (aesthetic dentistry).
Veneers are incredibly resistant to chemical, mechanical, thermal and biological influences. They cannot be affected by caries, and they almost never crack or break off.
They are more resistant to food coloring than natural tooth enamel. Thanks to veneers, the patient's teeth will be able to remain healthy for a much longer period. Veneers do not adversely affect the tissues surrounding the tooth. That is why microprosthetics with veneers is very popular today.
When wearing veneers, the patient does not feel absolutely any discomfort. They don't need any special care besides regular brushing.
However, it is still recommended to handle veneers with the utmost care, as this makes it possible to extend their wear life by several years.
The main goal of modern medicine is to prevent your own teeth from falling out or being affected by caries. This means that dentists are trying to treat dental diseases at the earliest stages, which should eventually result in patients' teeth falling out much less often. That is why the future of dentistry lies in microprosthetics.
