Which Restoration Is Right for Your Tooth?
This page is for anyone with a damaged tooth wondering whether a filling, inlay, onlay, crown or more is needed. It sets out a decision ladder from the smallest repair to replacing the tooth, how much remaining tooth shapes each step, when the nerve changes the route, and how fees compare with lifespan. The guiding principle: the least invasive option that will work.
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Clinically reviewed by Dr Ibraheem Ijaz, dentist · GDC 301711
Medical disclaimer: This page is for general information only. It does not replace an examination or treatment by a dentist.
Dr Ibraheem Ijaz, the practice's principal dentist, reviewed this page. He is a General Dental Practitioner registered with the General Dental Council, number 301711, and his qualifications are BDS, BSc (Hons), MSc (Leeds), PG Dip Implant Dentistry and PG Cert Restorative and Aesthetic Dentistry.
What are the restoration options?
The options run from a filling to extraction and a replacement, and none is ahead on every measure. Lifespans are typical ranges that depend on the individual patient, their oral hygiene and their habits.
| Option | May suit | Natural tooth kept | Visits at Deepcar | Typical lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White (composite) filling | A small or medium cavity with strong walls | Most of the tooth | Appointment of around 60 minutes | 5 to 10 years |
| Inlay or onlay | A larger cavity; an onlay also covers one or more cusps | Usually more than a crown | 2 visits | - |
| Crown | A tooth too weak for a smaller restoration to protect | Less: the whole visible tooth is shaped | 2 to 3 visits | 5 to 20 years |
| Root canal treatment, then a restoration | Infection or inflammation inside the tooth (the pulp) | The root and the remaining tooth | Typically 1 to 2, then the restoration | - |
| Extraction, then a bridge or denture | A tooth that cannot be restored | None | Bridge 2 to 3; full denture 1 to 4 (the replacement only) | Bridge 5 to 20 years; denture 5 to 10 years before a reline or remake |
A dash means this page gives no figure for that option.
What is the guiding principle?
The guiding principle is that the least invasive option that will work is the right one to start from. Drilled-away tooth does not grow back, so each step up the ladder trades natural tooth for coverage.
The FDI World Dental Federation's 2026 policy statement on minimally invasive caries care makes the same point: remove only tooth tissue that cannot recover, and preserve healthy tissue. In a laboratory study of bridge and crown preparation designs on resin model back teeth (Edelhoff and Sorensen, 2002), bonded and inlay designs removed about 5 to 27% of the tooth above the gum, against about 68 to 76% for full crowns.
"Will work" matters as much as "least invasive": the restoration also has to be strong enough for that tooth and that bite.
How much tooth is left?
Which restoration you need usually depends on how much sound tooth is left, because that sets how much support the repair must give. A dentist weighs several things together:
- The size of the cavity or break, and the strength of the walls around it.
- Whether the cusps, the raised points on a back tooth's biting surface, are intact or weakened.
- How much sound tooth sits above the gum.
- The health of the pulp, the root, and the gum and bone around it.
- Your bite, including any grinding, and your priorities on cost and appearance.
Two teeth with similar-looking damage can need different restorations once these are checked at an examination. Our guide to restoring damaged teeth explains each option in more depth.
What is the decision ladder?
The decision ladder has five steps, from the smallest repair to replacing the tooth; each may suit a tooth with less sound structure left:
- Prevention and monitoring.
- A white filling.
- An inlay or onlay.
- A crown.
- Extraction, then a bridge, denture or implant.
Root canal treatment is not a step: when the nerve is involved, it comes before the restoration. If your concern is how a tooth looks rather than damage, working out which option suits you is covered on the cosmetic pages.
Step 1: Prevention and monitoring
Early decay that has not formed a hole may not need drilling. NHS guidance says a dentist can prescribe fluoride treatments to reverse early tooth decay.
Step 2: A white filling
A filling repairs a hole in a tooth caused by decay, in NHS wording, and may suit a small or medium cavity with strong walls around it.
Step 3: An inlay or onlay
An inlay or onlay may suit a cavity too large for a filling: an inlay restores it without covering the cusps, and an onlay covers at least one cusp. Composite and ceramic inlays and onlays are offered at Deepcar Dental Care, each in 2 visits. White fillings, inlays and onlays, and crowns each have their own page, and the restorative treatments page sets out the options in this section.
Step 4: A crown
A crown is a cap that completely covers a real tooth, in NHS wording. It may suit a tooth too weak or damaged for a filling, inlay or onlay to protect, at the cost of shaping more tooth away.
To ask about restorative treatment, book online or call 0114 288 2121.
What changes when the nerve is involved?
When decay or a break reaches the pulp, the soft tissue in the centre of the tooth, root canal treatment may be needed first. The tooth is then restored.
Root canal treatment removes an infection from inside the tooth, which is then filled so it does not become infected again (NHS guidance). At Deepcar Dental Care it is carried out by a dentist with a special interest in root canal treatment and typically takes 1 to 2 visits.
NHS guidance says a crown may be needed afterwards if the tooth was badly infected. A retrospective US study of 203 teeth root-filled between 1985 and 1987 (Aquilino and Caplan, 2002) found an association: teeth not crowned afterwards were lost at about six times the rate of crowned ones.
Where a crown is needed after root canal treatment, at Deepcar Dental Care it is placed soon after where the tooth is at higher risk, or after around 3 months to let the tooth settle, decided case by case. Post crowns, with fibre or cast metal posts, and crown lengthening are also carried out at the practice.
For a root-treated tooth that is to be crowned, evidence suggests a collar of about 1.5 to 2 mm of sound tooth gripped by the crown, called a ferrule, improves fracture resistance, and a partial collar is better than none. Where no ferrule can be created by any means, a poor outcome is very likely (Juloski and colleagues, 2012).
Whether to save a tooth this way or take it out is weighed on our page on deciding whether to save or remove a tooth.
What happens when the tooth cannot be saved?
When a tooth cannot be restored, extraction followed by a replacement is step 5, the last on the ladder. NHS guidance says an infected tooth that is not root-treated may need to come out, and severe gum disease can mean some teeth are removed. Our dentists carry out simple, surgical and same-day extractions.
A bridge is a fixed replacement held by one or more neighbouring teeth, and a denture is removable and can replace one or more teeth or a whole arch. At Deepcar Dental Care, conventional, adhesive (Maryland) and cantilever bridges are offered, and denture options include flexible and immediate dentures. Dental implants replace the root as well as the tooth and are covered on the implant pages.
To weigh two options side by side, such as a crown against an onlay, browse the restorative comparison section.
How does cost compare with longevity?
A cheaper restoration on the day is not always cheaper over time, because a shorter-lived one may need replacing sooner. The table pairs named lines on the current Deepcar Dental Care fee list with typical lifespans.
| Treatment | Current fee list | Typical lifespan |
|---|---|---|
| White composite filling | £150 to £220 | 5 to 10 years |
| All-ceramic crown | From £750 to £1,000 | 5 to 20 years |
| Root canal treatment | From £450 | - |
| Full denture | £990 | 5 to 10 years before a reline or remake |
| Partial acrylic denture | From £650 to £950 | 5 to 10 years before a reline or remake |
| Tooth extraction | £120 to £260 | - |
A dash means this page gives no figure. Fees are starting prices, and lifespans depend on the individual patient, their oral hygiene and their habits. Inlays, onlays and bridges are offered at Deepcar Dental Care but have no line of their own on the current fee list, so this page gives no fee for them.
Taking a tooth out can cost less on the day, but replacing it adds the cost of a bridge, denture or implant. The restorative cost page sets out what it costs in more detail, and our page on spreading the cost of treatment explains paying monthly.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to fix a broken tooth?
The cheapest fix is usually the smallest that will hold. NHS guidance lists regluing the fragment, a filling or crown, or root canal treatment if a badly broken tooth has exposed nerves. See a dentist, and take any broken piece kept in milk or saliva. If you have no dentist or cannot get an emergency appointment, call 111.
Which restoration lasts longest?
No single restoration lasts longest for everyone. Of the figures on this page, crowns and bridges have typical ranges of 5 to 20 years, but a longer range does not make a crown right for a tooth a filling can protect, because a crown removes more tooth. Lifespans depend on the individual patient, their oral hygiene and their habits.
Can an old filling be repaired instead of replaced?
Sometimes. The FDI World Dental Federation says evidence supports repairing defective restorations over replacing them, where clinically appropriate, because it reduces unnecessary treatment and preserves the tooth. Whether a repair suits depends on how much of the old filling is sound and on the tooth around it, which a dentist checks at an examination.
Are fillings, crowns and other restorations available on the NHS?
In England, they are listed in NHS charge bands, and the treatment you get depends on what the dental professional thinks you need. Fillings, root canal treatment and extractions are Band 2, currently £76.60, and crowns, inlays, onlays, bridges and dentures Band 3, currently £332.10. White fillings are available on the NHS when clinically necessary.
Why might a dentist suggest a different restoration from the one I expected?
Because the choice depends on what the examination finds, not only on how the tooth looks. It is reasonable to ask why the next step down the ladder would not work, and what the suggested option gives that a smaller one would not.
Book a consultation.
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Deepcar Dental Care is open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Sunday, and you can get in touch online or by phone. Crowns, bridges and dentures are provided by our restorative dentists, and no overseas laboratory work is used.
The practice is at 334 Manchester Road, Deepcar, Sheffield, S36 2RH, on the ground floor and wheelchair accessible, with free parking directly outside. Our page on restorative dentistry in Sheffield covers getting here, and you can read what patients say in our patient reviews.
This page sits within restorative dentistry, the part of dentistry focused on saving and rebuilding natural teeth rather than replacing them with implants.
334 Manchester Road
Deepcar, Sheffield S36 2RH
0114 288 2121
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Open 8am to 8pm, seven days
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