Sometimes inlays or onlays are used instead of having filligs to repair damaged teeth.  Fillings can be soft to begin with and are moulded in the tooth which has been shaped to take and hold the filling.  Inlays and onlays are made outside the mouth, usually in a dental laboratory, and then glued to the tooth in the surgery.

• An inlay sits in a hole in the tooth.
• An onlay sits on the tooth and builds up the shape.