n. a facing of *composite resin or *porcelain applied to the surface of a tooth to give improved shape and/or colour. The tooth usually requires minimal preparation and the facing is retained by enamel that has been treated by the *acid-etch technique. Veneers are a more conservative way of treating discoloured teeth than by *crowns.
n. 1. a bright yellow metal that is very malleable. In dentistry pure gold is now very rarely used as a filling. Gold alloys are used for *crowns, *inlays, and *bridges, either alone or veneered with a tooth-coloured material, but increasingly nonprecious alloys are being used. Gold alloys are now only rarely used as the metal framework for partial dentures, *cobalt-chromium alloys being used instead. 2. (in pharmacology) a compound of the metal gold, sodium aurothiomalate, used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Side-effects may include blood disorders, severe skin rash and allergy, inflammation of the colon, and kidney damage. Because of this, its use has largely been replaced by methotrexate and biological therapies.... gold
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