Medicine: Taking Stock of Bonding

There may be a better way to a whiter bite without drilling

"Every tooth in a man's head is more valuable than a diamond." So wrote Cervantes in the early 17th century. The great Spanish novelist was not being quixotic. In his day, teeth were not easily replaced. But modern visitors to dentists' chairs in search of a gleaming grin find the artificial variety just about as dear as a diamond. Encasing even one chipped or rotted tooth in a cap can run anywhere from $300 to $600, and the process is tedious and uncomfortable. Lately, however, a...

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