Caring for Your Bonding
What the first week feels like, an everyday routine that works, the habits most likely to chip composite, how polishing keeps it glossy, and what to do when an edge breaks.
What's the Best Way to Care for Composite Bonding?
Bonded teeth want the same care as natural ones, plus a little extra thought: a soft brush and a gentle, low-abrasion fluoride paste twice daily, cleaning between the teeth every day, a mouthful of water once you've had coffee or red wine, and no chewing on nails, pens or ice. Grinders should sleep in a night guard or retainer, and everyone should keep up their hygiene appointments, where the composite gets polished. Should a corner chip, rebuilding it at our Broughty Ferry practice normally takes one short appointment.
Your First Week with Bonding
There's no waiting to eat: you can have lunch on Brook Street straight after your appointment. Each layer of composite is set rock-hard by the curing light in seconds. Expect your tongue to go looking for the new edges immediately, and expect them to feel a bit bulky for a few days. That feeling wears off as your mouth adjusts.
For the first 48 hours, steer clear of anything that would stain a white shirt: black coffee, red wine, curry and beetroot are the main offenders. If your back teeth don't appear to meet as they should, or a single front tooth hits first when you bite together, call us rather than waiting for it to settle. A tooth that sits even slightly high can become sore and chip. Roughly a fortnight on, at your review, we adjust the bite and give everything its final polish.
The Day-to-Day Routine
- Brush night and morning with a brush that isn't hard-bristled. An electric brush is fine: rest it against each tooth and let it do the work, with no heavy pressure.
- Pick a gentle fluoride toothpaste with low abrasivity. Steer clear of whitening and charcoal pastes, since their grit scratches the polished surface, which then looks dull and picks up stain faster.
- Floss or use interdental brushes between the teeth once a day. Slide floss out sideways rather than pulling it up, so it can't catch a bonded edge.
- Have water after tea, coffee or wine to wash the colour away.
- Attend your dental examinations and hygiene appointments.
No special products are needed. Bonding that's still looking good half a decade on is nearly always found in the mouth of someone with a consistent, unremarkable routine.
Bonding Gone Dull, or Chipped?
Dull or chipped bonding can usually be polished up or rebuilt in one appointment.
Staining, and Keeping It at Bay
Composite is a touch more porous than porcelain, so it takes on colour slightly more readily, much as natural enamel does. Coffee, tea, cola, red wine, turmeric, curry and berries all leave their mark eventually. Smoking is the worst offender and can visibly yellow bonding within a matter of months.
You don't have to give up your coffee. Swill with water afterwards, sip cold dark drinks through a straw, and leave whatever remains to the hygienist. A professional polish lifts surface stain, and Airflow does it gently, using a fine mist of warm water, powder and air. Discolouration that has worked into the seam where composite meets tooth, or that polishing won't lift, is usually a sign that the bonding is due a refresh.
The Habits That Chip It
Composite stands up well to ordinary chewing, but a thin edge dislikes a sudden force concentrated on one spot. Chips usually come from:
- Nibbling fingernails, pen lids or pencils
- Crunching ice or boiled sweets
- Ripping open packets, tape or labels with your teeth
- Biting straight through a whole apple, a crusty loaf or a toffee apple using the front teeth
Slice hard foods and chew them on your back teeth. For football, rugby, hockey or any other contact sport, a custom sports guard (£190) shields the bonding and the teeth under it alike.
Retainers, Night Guards and Grinding
Nothing you do while awake wears or chips composite as quickly as grinding and clenching in your sleep. A night guard absorbs that load, and for grinders it does more to extend the life of bonding than anything else. You might be a grinder if your jaw feels tight on waking, you get headaches around the temples, your edges look flattened, or a partner is kept awake by the noise. There's more in our teeth grinding guide.
A retainer matters as well if your teeth were straightened beforehand. Teeth move once orthodontics finishes, and bonding shaped for one position stops looking right once the teeth shift. If you had Invisalign with us, Vivera retainers are part of your package, and night-time wear protects both the alignment and the bonding. Where something new is needed, a custom-made night guard (£210) or an Essix clear retainer (£214 for a single arch) can be made here, and we'll advise which is right for you.
Why Hygiene Polishing Matters
A polish brings the shine back, and it's the reason well-kept bonding carries on looking new. During the same visit our hygienist inspects the edges for early signs of wear, so minor issues are picked up before they're visible. Let the hygienist know where your bonding is: composite calls for a fine paste and soft cups, and the coarser paste used on enamel can leave it looking flat.
Thirty minutes with the hygienist is £70, or £100 with Airflow included, and both of our dental plans cover these visits. Depending on the state of their gums, most people are seen somewhere between every three and every six months.
Dealing with a Chipped Edge
Chips happen, and they're usually simple to fix. Usually fresh composite is layered on and blended into the old during a single short visit, with no need to redo the whole tooth. Keep the fragment if you can, avoid biting on that tooth, and let us know. WhatsApp a photo to 07984 709110 so we can book a slot of the right length.
Resist the urge to take a nail file to a sharp edge. A little dental or orthodontic wax from the chemist will cover it if it's rubbing your lip, until you're seen. Where the tooth is actually painful rather than merely sharp, ring 01382 477350 and we'll fit you in.
Knowing When a Refresh Is Due
Bonding typically gives three to five years before needing attention, and looked after well it frequently goes on longer. Keep an eye out for a surface that stays flat even after it's polished, staining that won't budge, a brown line where composite meets tooth, or an edge that's worn down or keeps chipping. A refresh usually means a re-polish or a fresh outer layer rather than rebuilding from scratch.
Fancy whiter teeth while you're at it? Whiten first. Composite doesn't lighten, so the natural teeth are brightened and the refreshed bonding is then colour-matched to the lighter result. For the timing, see our guide to whitening before bonding, and at every dental examination we'll say honestly whether a refresh is worthwhile yet.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.