Michael S. Yung DDS provides a wide range of effective restorative treatments designed to bring your teeth back to their previous natural and healthy state. These restorative procedures can sometimes overlap with cosmetic dentistry.

Some of the most common restorative treatments we perform include:

Fillings

Dr. Yung provides a variety of options for treating tooth decay. We prefer to use composite as our filling material of choice when restoring simple or conservative fillings. We do not use amalgam.

Composite or “White” Fillings

Composite or “white” fillings have long since played a more esthetic option to silver fillings. Composite fillings are simply a plastic that requires light activation to allow the material to harden in place. The most modern of materials today for composites compares to silver fillings with similar longevity while reducing temperature sensitivity and saving more of your natural tooth. Plainly, we don’t have to drill off as much of your tooth.

Porcelain and Gold Fillings

Like composite described above, porcelain can be used as an esthetic alternative to providing fillings in teeth. Choosing to use porcelain may be due to the larger size of the filling necessary for the tooth or for longer durability. This process is similar to preparing a crown on your tooth in that it requires an impression which is sent to the laboratory for fabrication, but is also a conservative alternative when compared to crowns (which cover the whole tooth). Gold can be used in the same way and is the most durable but obviously less esthetic. 

Tooth Discoloration

Restoring your teeth back to their beautiful white color is an area that overlaps with Cosmetic Dentistry. Dr. Yung and his team will work with you to decide which treatment will work best for you. Among the effective options we offer are Philips Zoom!® and Lumineers.

Veneers/Lumineers®

In some cases, veneers or Lumineers®, are used to replace broken, chipped or cracked teeth in the anterior. While this may seem purely aesthetic in nature, once again, this form of cosmetic dentistry also improves the functional longevity of your teeth.

Veneers

Veneers are simply porcelain lenses that don’t contain any metal and are fixed to your teeth with an adhesive. Depending on the case, part of the natural tooth has to be removed to make room for the thickness of a veneer which can be as thin as 0.3 mm. That’s not much thicker than a contact lens in your eye.

LUMINEERS® Veneers

Like traditional veneers, LUMINEERS® are also made from porcelain. The big difference is that LUMINEERS® can be done with little or no use of dental anesthetic and drilling. LUMINEERS® is contact lense thin to save your tooth structure and will permanently whiten your teeth. Dr. Yung is a certified LUMINEERS® provider. For more information and to see examples of smile makeovers, please read the interview with Dr. Michael S. Yung on Lumineers or visit www.lumineers.com.

Porcelain Crowns and Bridges

Crowns/Bridges are needed when a larger section of the tooth is missing or vulnerable to fracture or to replace a missing span of tooth. Porcelain crowns and bridges come in many forms with and without metal underneath. Porcelain crowns with a gold alloy framework underneath combines the highest longevity with good esthetics. This is what we use predominantly in my practice. Also an increasingly popular alternative now is LAVA® crowns, which combine porcelain on the outside with zirconium on the inside for strength and superior esthetics (zirconium is an off-white shade much like your tooth).

We have now a machine by D4D called the E4D. What this machine does is allow us to be our own lab so that we can design and mill our own all-porcelain crowns in the office. To the patient, this improves our service of being able to turn around a crown and limit the wait time to get a crown. In many cases with proper planning, we can deliver a crown within 90 min of preparing it. That means we can deliver it the same day. It also means that we can maintain better quality control and limit repeat seating appointments for lack of fit. (Visit our E4D Same-Day Crowns page for more information)

Implant Crowns

These are specifically designed to go over implant abutments (the part that sticks out of the gums) which are usually anchored to the implants themselves. This procedure is done here in our office.

Implants

Implants are definitely the wave of the future for dentistry. The procedure is safe and causes very little discomfort if at all. Having an implant placed where a tooth has been missing can help preserve bone in that area while restoring your chewing function. Compared to a bridge, it also saves having to drill on neighboring teeth to replace a missing one. In our office we do promote implants and will provide the necessary referral to the oral surgeon or periodontal specialist to place the implant. After that, Dr. Yung will restore the implant with a new crown by matching it in color and shape to the rest of your teeth.