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Molar teeth are also able to be restored using a number of materials and techniques. In the Services Listing to the left, under 'Specialist care - Nice composite restorations' information and case examples are provided which demonstrate the use of composite resin to restore incisor and molar teeth.
In the case example below, a porcelain onlay has been used to restore a molar tooth. Onlays are similar to crowns in that they are made by a Dental Laboratory and then cemented on the tooth. The difference between an onlay and a crown is that the onlay is more conservative (only involves part of the tooth) and so using onlays can spare some tooth structure from being drilled away in the process. Where possible, we will use porcelain onlays before we recommend a crown.
When this man presented, the enamel on the inside of his tooth had fractured after biting on a hard piece of bacon. The old amalgam filling in the tooth then fell out. Whilst this looks terrible, there is still much enamel left on the other (cheek-side) of the tooth, and the aim was to preserve this.
A new porcelain onlay has been placed, which will restore and bind the tooth together. The cheek side of the tooth was left mostly unaltered by this conservative alternative to a crown.