Some teeth are too damaged for a filling but too healthy for a crown. That middle ground belongs to the onlay, dentistry's most underused restoration, and one we reach for often, because preserving your natural tooth is always the first goal.
A precision-milled piece of porcelain that rebuilds the damaged portion of a tooth, typically a broken cusp or a large failed filling, while leaving the healthy walls untouched. Its close cousin, the inlay, does the same job for damage contained within the cusps, like a filling carved from solid porcelain; together, inlays and onlays cover the full middle ground. Where a crown requires shaping the entire tooth on every side, an onlay replaces only what is actually lost.
Every millimetre of natural enamel preserved is strength banked for the future. Teeth restored conservatively tend to stay out of trouble longer, and if that tooth ever needs more extensive work decades from now, there is more of it left to work with. Less drilling today, more options tomorrow.
Like our crowns, onlays at Blue Bird Dental are designed and milled in-office with CEREC: digital scan, chairside design, porcelain milled while you wait, and permanent bonding, one appointment, one freezing, no temporary. CEREC Same-Day Crowns
The decision comes down to how much healthy tooth remains and where the forces land, which we assess and show you on screen before recommending either. When a full crown genuinely protects better, we say so. Porcelain Crowns
Big old filling or broken cusp? Ask whether an onlay can save the rest: (250) 372-2326.
Questions, or ready to book? Call (250) 372-2326 or request an appointment online.