Conservative aesthetics and dental repair
A chipped edge, a worn-down cusp, a small gap between teeth: bonding fixes it in a single session, adding material without cutting the tooth. And if you just chipped a piece of your tooth, start with the box below — there is something you should do within the first hour.
Treatments with flexible financing — detailed conditions in writing at the clinic.
Quick summary
Start here if you just had the accident
Rinse the mouth with warm water and look for the fragment. Save it in milk, saline solution, or your own saliva — do not let it dry out. Cold on the outside of the cheek if there is a blow, avoid things that are very hard, cold, or hot, and call us: the sooner it is evaluated, the easier the fix usually is.
Here every minute counts. Take it for the crown, never for the root. If it's dirty, rinse it for a few seconds with milk or whey — without rubbing, without soap. If you feel up to it, Put it back in its slot and gently bite a tissue. If not, into a glass of milk — never in water or dry — and come immediately: after half an hour dry, most of the root cells are no longer viable.
Don't put it back, even if instinct tells you to: the permanent one is forming underneath and replanting it can damage it. Control the bleeding with gauze and gentle pressure, and bring him in for a check-up anyway. Permanent teeth usually start coming in around age 6 and are noticeably larger. More tips at our children's page.
These instructions do not replace in-person care: in the event of trauma, call us at +34 654 58 55 53 and we'll tell you when we can see you — in the case of a dental injury, the sooner, the better. Protocol based on the guidelines of the International Association of Dental Traumatology (2020).
According to the General Council of Dentists, 4.5 million Spaniards have suffered some type of dental trauma. You don't need to know what yours is—that's what an examination is for—but this table explains why a neighbour had composite put on in twenty minutes and you were recommended a root canal.
| Type of fracture | What grades | What is usually done |
|---|---|---|
| Polish only | A small peak or rough edge. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't bleed | Polishing or bonding. And vitality check as well |
| Enamel and dentin | A yellowish area is visible; it is sensitive to cold and air. | Dentin sealing + fragment reattachment or bonding, with follow-up |
| With nerve exposure | A red dot or bleeding in the centre; it hurts | Nerve treatment first (sometimes root canal), reconstruction after |
| Below the gum | The fracture line extends down towards the root | Individual assessment: sometimes crown, sometimes you can't save it |
| The tooth moved or came out | It changed position, it is loose, or it was avulsed completely | Urgency — get into the top box. Splinting and follow-up decide a lot |
The rule that orders everything: First the nerve and the root are checked, then it is embellished. Reconstructing a tooth without assessing what is underneath is putting the cart before the horse.
Bonding is composite—resin the colour of your enamel—applied directly on the tooth, hand-sculpted and light-cured in the same visit. In most cases, no drilling or anaesthesia is required: the surface is prepared, the material is bonded, and it is polished until it is indistinguishable.
In our conservative ladder occupies the first rung: bonding, veneers, crown — in that order. Bonding adds material without removing anything. facemask It already demands minimal and irreversible wear. The crown carves the entire tooth. You don't climb a step just because it looks prettier in the photo: you climb it when the one below can no longer hold on.
A distinction almost no one makes and that we prefer to make: almost true. Since we don't carve, it can be removed and returned to a shape very close to the original — but for the composite to bond, the enamel must be etched, and when removing it, a very thin layer is always lost. Highly reversible, yes; without leaving a trace, not entirely. Compared to the wear of a veneer or a crown, the difference is still huge.
It is a great tool with a specific purpose. We are telling you about the two lists, because selling bonding for everything ends badly.
Diastema is the poster child for direct composite. A recent clinical trial compared diastema closures with direct composite and with ceramics: at two years, 93.4 % vs. 95 % for survival — no statistically significant difference (Elkaffas et al., 2024). The fine print, also from the study: the composite showed more staining and roughness over time. Translation: the gap closes just as well; maintenance is the price.
After orthodontic or periodontal treatment, small dark triangles may remain between the teeth where the papilla does not fill in. Direct composite bonding allows reshape the tooth's profile and close the gap without grinding — is a recognised technique, although it should be noted that comparative evidence between options is still under development. It is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with the healthy gum first: if the cause was periodontal, Order Matters.
The classic "beak-shaped" (conical lateral) tooth is restored with composite using a silicone mould made from a preliminary wax-up: the shape is designed outside the mouth and transferred with precision. No preparation required; completed in one or two appointments. When the available space is insufficient, the preliminary consultation is orthodontic — order again.
What almost no one tells you
The first thing anyone will tell you is to save the piece. Almost no one explains what for.
If the fragment appears and arrives at the dental office without having dried, in many cases we can reattach it to the tooth. It is called fragment reattachment and is a recognised technique by international dental trauma guidelines. It has an advantage that no composite can match: it is your own enamel. The colour, translucency, and texture are exactly like yours—because they're the same.
It's not always possible, and it doesn't always hold up indefinitely: follow-up studies show variable results, and when it fails, it usually does so in the first year. But when it works, the aesthetic result is hard to beat. And if it doesn't work — or the piece never turns up —, there's always bonding, which is what this page is for.
Therefore: look for the piece. Even if it's dirty, even if you think it's useless. Put it in milk and don't let it dry out.
A tooth can take a hit, chip a little bit, and not hurt at all. That doesn't mean it's fine: it means that it doesn't hurt today.
Inside the tooth there is a nerve. Trauma can compromise its blood supply without causing symptoms at first, and the nerve can lose vitality weeks or months later — in follow-up studies, when this happens it usually becomes evident in the first few months, and the risk is clearly higher if the tooth also shifted position, not just if it chipped.
That is why, after trauma, it is not enough to just rebuild the piece and say goodbye. We perform vitality tests and schedule follow-up appointments for the following months. Most teeth progress well; those that do not are detected in time and treated with a root canal — instead of discovering it when the tooth has already darkened or an abscess has appeared. It is the least visible part of the treatment and the one that saves the most teeth.
How we work
Exploration and, if there was impact, an X-ray and vitality test. We confirm if bonding is the correct step — and if it isn't, we'll tell you which one is.
The shade is chosen using a shade guide next to your teeth, with your mouth hydrated. If you are thinking about whitening, now is the time to say so — better before than after.
Cleaning, gentle enamel etching, and bonding. No drilling in most cases, and no anaesthesia unless the tooth is sensitive — then we offer it to you.
The resin is applied in thin layers that harden with light, reconstructing shape and translucency. It is fine paintbrush work, not house painter's brush work.
The bite is adjusted, textured, and polished to a shine. Polishing is not an adornment: it is what determines how long it takes to stain.
We review the result, and the bonding becomes part of your routine
| Appearance | Dental bonding (direct composite) | Porcelain veneer |
|---|---|---|
| Tooth preparation | None or minimal | Minimal but irreversible wear |
| Sessions | Normally a | Two or more, with study and testing |
| Published data | 88 % survival rates pooled over 2–8 years of follow-up (Lim 2023) | More stable in the long term; in a 10-year trial, 100 % compared to 75 % for the laboratory composite (Gresnigt 2019) |
| Colour and brightness | It loses its polish and stains at the edges over years — it can be touched up in the clinic. | Much more colour stable |
| If something goes wrong | It is retouched or repaired during the same visit | It usually means replacing the veneer |
| Cost | Minor | Mayor |
If what you are considering is a change in shape or colour in several teeth at once, that is a different conversation — and we have the whole thing in the veneer page, including what nobody tells you about treatments abroad. And a money-saving tip: if you want bleach, do it before bonding. Composite does not whiten — peroxide acts on the enamel, which is porous, and the resin is not. If you whiten afterwards, your teeth will go up a shade and the composite will stay where it was. We whiten, let the colour stabilise, and then we choose the shade of the resin.
The most recent systematic review places the survival rate of aesthetic composite restorations at 88 % cases grouped together, with follow-up periods ranging from 2 to 8 years (Lim et al., 2023). But "surviving" and "looking the same" are not the same thing: in a six-year trial, direct restorations had lost their lustre already during the first year, and showed more staining at the edges and small chipping over time (Bilen and Türkün, 2025). The composite rarely falls out. What it does is wear down.
The good news is that has an easy fix: a repolishing at the clinic restores the shine, and a targeted touch-up repairs a chip without redoing anything at all. That is why bonding is not a treatment you get and forget about—it is a treatment that is touched up, ideally taking advantage of your hygiene appointments and check-ups.
What shortens its lifespan: coffee, red wine, and tobacco daily (they stain composite before enamel), chewing ice or pens, and above all bruxism without a night guard — grinding at night subjects the rebuilt edge to the same force that broke the tooth. If you grind, we will suggest a night guard: it distributes the load and reduces the impact on the restoration, although it is worth being precise — studies measuring whether it prevents failures are still limited. It is a reasonable measure, not a shield.
A tooth that has already broken once is telling us something, and it's best to listen to it. The three questions we ask ourselves with you present: Why did it break? Was it a pure accident, or was there a weakened edge, an overload bite at that point, an old filling undermining the wall?
If you play a contact sport — padel and bike included, which in the south of Tenerife break more teeth than boxing —, the custom-made mouthguard is the most profitable investment on this page: it costs a fraction of any reconstruction and works every time you fall. The General Council of Dentists expressly recommends it for contact sports, and generic pharmacy ones, which are moulded at home with hot water, offer much less protection than one made from the mould of your mouth.
If you clench or grind at night, the night guard protects both your teeth and your bonding — we mentioned that above. And the habits that break composites and enamel alike: opening things with your teeth, chewing ice, pens. No material can withstand what using a tooth as a tool does — your original one couldn't withstand it either.
Transparency
Dental bonding
Custom quote
It is calculated based on the number of teeth, the volume of composite, and whether it is a small repair or an aesthetic redesign. You will receive a written plan and quotation before we begin.
Request an assessmentThere is a real price jump between repair a chipped edge and rebuild the entire face of a tooth — and it is worth understanding that before comparing figures. You can check our indicative prices in the pricing page. What makes the difference: the surface to be reconstructed, the number of teeth, and whether there was trauma (X-ray, vitality test, and follow-up included).
Flexible financing available; detailed conditions in writing at the clinic.
Frequently asked questions
Direct-applied tooth-coloured composite, hand-sculpted and light-cured — without cutting down the tooth in most cases and typically in a single visit. It is the same material as a filling, used to restore a shape rather than to treat a cavity.
Rinse with warm water, find the fragment and store it in milk, saline, or your own saliva — do not let it dry out. Apply cold externally if there is swelling, avoid hard foods, and call us: the sooner it is evaluated, the more options there are, including gluing your own piece back on.
In many cases, yes: it is called fragment reattachment and is recognised by international dental trauma guidelines. The condition is that the piece arrives moist (in milk or saline solution). It doesn't always last indefinitely — when it fails, it is usually during the first year — but aesthetically it is hard to beat: it is your own enamel.
The review by Lim et al. (2023) found a pooled survival rate of 88% for % over a follow-up period of 2 to 8 years. The material rarely falls out: over the years, it loses its lustre and becomes stained at the edges, but this can be resolved with polishing and touch-ups in the office. Coffee, tobacco, and bruxism without a mouthguard can shorten its lifespan.
Since we do not shape the tooth, in most cases anaesthesia is not necessary. If the tooth is sensitive or the fracture reaches the dentin, we will offer it to you and work with the area numb. Afterwards, there may be some mild sensitivity for a few days.
Yes, before the enamel: composite loses its polish over time and that is where stains catch on, especially with daily coffee, red wine, and tobacco. A periodic repolishing at the clinic restores the shine; when the staining is deep, the outer layer is replaced without redoing the whole thing.
For a localised touch-up — an edge, a gap, a corner — bonding preserves more of the tooth and costs less. To change the shape or colour of several teeth at once, the veneer is more stable in colour and in the long run, in exchange for irreversible wear. The full comparison is on our veneers page.
It depends on the tooth. If it is a permanent tooth and has come out whole, yes — every minute counts: put it in milk and go to the clinic immediately. If it is a baby tooth, it is never reimplanted, but it is still a good idea to have it checked soon to inspect the tooth coming in underneath. And even if it is only a piece and it doesn't hurt, it should be checked: the nerve can flare up weeks later.
First visit
A broken tooth, an edge that bothers you when you look in the mirror, or a gap you want to close: we evaluate it, explain the range of options, and you leave with a written quotation. Write to us and we'll call you to set up an appointment.
