Cosmetic dentistry is a field of dentistry that has been developing most rapidly with respect to the materials and techniques used.  Composite materials, allowing to reconstruct and integrate dental tissues in the process of chemical bonding, are used not only in cosmetic dentistry but also in conservative treatment. Such materials, also referred to as stratified composites, allow to reconstruct the teeth so that the difference between the patient’s own tooth and the reconstructed fragment is invisible.  Older generation composites, used up to the recent times, underwent discoloration after a few months, which gave the reconstructed teeth an unnatural appearance.  Additionally, they were susceptible to formation of microleaks, letting in the bacteria, which initiated carious foci.

Bonding is a technology which allows to reconstruct a tooth damaged by caries or as a result of a trauma during one dental appointment.  It involves selection of a standard „form”, fitted with size to the patient’s tooth, followed by covering of the whole tooth with composite.

The introduction of porcelain veneers used in all the cases where bonding cannot be applied has been a turning point in cosmetic reconstructions.  It is recommended in patients with so-called worse chemical maintenance and occlusion-related conditions, or subjects whose teeth require axial reorientation or complete reconstruction of the dental arch.

Cosmetic dentistry utilizes also all-ceramic and porcelain-fused-on-metal crowns (PFMs) with a metal shell (made of precious or semi-precious metal alloy) on which a porcelain veneer is fused in a high heat oven.

All this assortment of methods and materials is also referred to as adhesive dentistry, i.e. dentistry allowing to achieve integration of materials foreign for the dental tissue and the patient’s organism with the natural substance of the teeth.