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Inlays and onlays are custom crafted porcelain restorations for teeth too damaged for a filling but healthy enough to avoid a full crown, the best of both worlds. An inlay fits precisely within the grooves of a tooth; an onlay extends over one or more cusps, rebuilding what fractured or decayed away. They preserve more natural tooth than a crown while providing strength no large filling can honestly promise.
After removing decay or a failing filling, we capture a digital impression, and the restoration is milled from solid porcelain to fit the prepared area with remarkable precision, then bonded into place. That bond does real work: it knits the restoration and tooth into a single reinforced unit rather than simply plugging a hole. With our in office milling, design, fabrication, and bonding frequently happen in one visit.
You keep more of your natural tooth, a crown requires shaving the entire tooth down, an onlay preserves everything healthy, while gaining strength a large filling cannot offer. The porcelain blends invisibly, resists stains and wear for a decade or more, and holds its polish and contours far better than composite in large sizes. It is conservative dentistry with durable results, which is the combination worth seeking whenever a tooth qualifies.
Inlays and Onlays in Rancho Bernardo, San Diego | RB Dental Arts
Stronger than a filling, more conservative than a crown.
If you have a large old filling breaking down, a fractured cusp, or moderate decay in a back tooth, an inlay or onlay may save the tooth without crowning it. The candidacy question is structural: enough healthy tooth must remain to bond to, which we assess honestly with imaging on screen. Patients replacing large aging metal fillings are frequent candidates, and patients told they need a crown sometimes qualify for this more conservative rescue instead; it never hurts to ask.
With the same day technology at our Rancho Bernardo office, many inlays and onlays are designed, milled, and bonded in one visit: numbing, preparation, a quick digital scan, a relaxed wait while the mill carves your restoration, and bonding, done. Patients love keeping more of their natural tooth and watching the piece being made in the room. The fit of milled porcelain is precise enough that bite adjustments are usually minimal, and the result vanishes into the tooth.
Same day cases run about two hours start to finish, one visit, one numbing, no temporary. Lab fabricated cases take two visits roughly two weeks apart with a temporary between them; we will tell you which route suits your tooth. Once bonded, the restoration is at full strength immediately. Well made porcelain inlays and onlays routinely serve ten to fifteen years or longer with ordinary care and checkups.
An onlay is strong but not invincible: ice chewing and unpopped popcorn kernels remain the enemies of every restoration, and night grinders should wear a guard to protect the investment. The margins where porcelain meets tooth are the long term watch points, which daily flossing and regular checkups guard. Insurance sometimes categorizes onlays differently than crowns or fillings, so we verify your exact benefit and quote before starting, never after.
Expect a few hours of numbness, then a settling period of a few days with possible mild cold sensitivity as the tooth adjusts to its new restoration, normal and self resolving. Eat once the numbness clears, easing into harder foods over a day or two. If the bite feels even slightly proud once the anesthetic fades, call for a two minute polish rather than adapting around it. After that, it is simply your tooth again, indistinguishable and strong.
