Inlays and Onlays are a dental restoration technique which is used to restore the teeth to function normal after tooth infection or decay. Inlays and Onlays perform a solution for the dilemma when your tooth is damaged to support tooth filling but not for dental crown. These are the intermediate solution between dental fillings and dental crowns. Dental inlays and onlays are made up of wide range of materials such as resins, gold and porcelains. It can prevent further decay or damage, since these materials are much durable than traditional blended-metal. These are conservative alternatives to crowns and fillings.

Inlay is similar to that of composite white filling in which the material is placed inside the cavity of tooth, whereas with onlay filling the material is inserted into both the surface and cavity of the tooth. These fillings are pre manufactured in a dental laboratory before immersing onto the teeth. The amount of tooth structure that has lost to wear or decay is the factor considered to choose among the two. A dentist could figure out the suitable method for you from these two forms of filling.
Following are stages involved in filling:

• Removing the old fillings or damaged part
• Dentist takes an impression of teeth
• Construction of restoration at dental laboratory
• Measuring the fitness of filling
• Bonding the Inlay to tooth with a strong resin