Placing a gold Inlay

The size and shape of a gold inlay is like a silver filling, but the process of creating a gold inlay is more like making a crown. That's because an inlay is custom-crafted in a dental laboratory to precisely fit your tooth. For this reason, it takes two appointments to restore your tooth with an inlay.

To make the entire procedure comfortable for you, the affected area is numbed with a local anesthetic.

Depending on the size of the filling and the tooth being worked on, a rubber dam may be used. It functions like a safety net, preventing debris from falling to the back of your throat.
Then the decay is removed and the tooth is shaped with the handpiece.

Impressions give an accurate working model of your mouth, including the prepared tooth. This helps re-create your natural bite.

Sometimes, to make a more accurate impression, your dentist will put a small piece of string in the space between the tooth and the gums. This gently pushes the gums away from the tooth.

For the week or two that it takes the dental lab to fabricate your new gold inlay, you'll have a temporary inlay in your mouth. At your next visit, the temporary inlay is removed and you'll try out your new gold inlay.

Then your dentist checks the bite with a colored tape, which indicates where your teeth are coming together, and floss is placed between the teeth to make sure there are no tight spots.

When everything looks good, your new inlay is cemented in place.