Inlays and Onlays

It’s no fun to have a broken or decayed molar. But at Redwood Dental Smiles in Castro Valley, our staff has the experience and technology to set things right. When a tooth gets damaged, we can mill a replacement crown for it. In cases where only a portion of a large tooth has been lost or needs to be removed, we can mill a partial crown to fill it in.


Partial crowns are known as inlays or onlays, depending on their size. We’ve discussed on our blog before how the crowns of molars are made up of pointy cusps separated by indentations. An inlay would be used as a damaged indentation’s substitute. It can be thought of as being like a more permanent version of the sealants that are used to smooth indentations over and create less space for food debris to get trapped in. An onlay is a larger partial crown and would replace at least one missing cusp.


Once the dentist has drilled away decayed material, we’ll have a better idea of how large a partial crown the patient needs. Normally, this process would require an impression to be made of the patient’s mouth and for the partial crown to be milled in a dental laboratory, but with a CEREC machine, a replacement can be manufactured in-house on the same day.


Redwood Dental Smiles is operated by Dr. Vijay Munagala at 20212 Redwood Rd, Suite 101, Castro Valley, California, 64546. To schedule an appointment, visit Redwood Dental Smiles or call 510-886-6416.


 

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