Is "roughening" a tooth with a slow-speed drill necessary for side bondings, in addition to using acid etching gel?

Question

The dentist who originally put in my side bondings said no drilling was necessary and that acid etiching was sufficient. After about one year, one of them came out and I had it replaced by a new dentist. The new dentist insisted that "roughening" the tooth surface with a drill was necessary in addition to acid etching (this is on the actual tooth surface, as I have gum recession that exposes the tooth below the enamel). There is still ~4mm tooth structure left--is this sustainable? Opinions?

Vachik Danoukh, DMD · Answer

Hi from Wildwood New Jersey!  My feeling is the first dentist did it the easy way and the acid etching was not enough to hold the bond in place.  The second dentist recommends both procedures before he does the bonding. You have recession but the bonding can help and let him do it using both the acid etchings as well as roughing of the tooth is necessary if you want to keep that bond on!  Good Luck!

Amber Garcia, DDS · Answer

I always lightly roughen the surface of the tooth when I'm bonding so the material holds better. It is a very minimal amount and shouldn't really affect the tooth if you some day wanted the bonding removed.

Is "roughening" a tooth with a slow-speed drill necessary for side bondings, in addition to using acid etching gel?

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