DENTAL VENEERS

If you need to improve the appearance of your teeth and correct minor flaws and imperfections, there are actually a wide range of dental solutions that you can choose from. One of the most common dental procedures performed for the enhancement of the appearance of your teeth are dental veneers.

Dental veneers enhance the beauty of your smile by masking or covering the imperfections of your teeth with very thin and tooth colored materials. These materials are bonded to the surfaces of your teeth to improve their shape, color, length and size. Veneers are made from either porcelain or composite resin materials but porcelain veneers are more stain resistant compared to resin veneers. However, resin veneers do not cause much damage to your teeth because it requires the least amount of tooth enamel to be removed.

When are veneers most applicable?

  • Veneers are ideal for discolored teeth due to root canal treatment, stains from medications just like tetracycline, excessive fluoride consumption or the presence of large resin fillings that causes discoloration or stains on the teeth.
  • For teeth that are chipped or broken
  • Teeth that are worn down due to erosion
  • Misaligned teeth, uneven or irregularly shaped
  • Teeth with gaps and spaces between

What are the advantages of using veneers?

Veneers are ideal alternative options to crowns because they can improve the color, size and shape of your teeth. They can mask a lot of your teeth’s imperfections and defects including their stains, and minor flaws and damages due trauma from injury and other dental procedures like root canal treatment. Many patients with gaps between their teeth or those with chipped teeth also consider veneers. If you are able to provide proper care for veneers, they can last for several years and even longer.

What procedures are involved when it comes to getting veneers?

When you consider getting dental veneers, the treatment plan will be divided into three phases and these are the diagnosis, treatment planning and bonding.

During your consultation, you should part in planning for the design based on how you want the results to look like. You should be able to share with your dentist your objectives and be specific about them so that your dentist will be able to understand and determine how the results are going to be delivered.

The preparation of your teeth for the veneers would include the buffing of your teeth to allow a little space for the thickness of the veneer. A small part of your teeth will be removed normally about half a millimeter. This part would require a local anesthetic. After the preparation, the dentist will be bonding and sculpting the composite material into your teeth.

Composite veneers are usually done in a single appointment compared to ceramic veneers which normally take longer. This is because ceramic veneers require a mold of your teeth to be taken and send to a laboratory. When the ceramic veneers are ready for placement, the dentist will be placing each veneer to your teeth and check its fit and see if it blends in well with the shade and color of your teeth. If there is anything that needs adjustment, your dentist will just be making the necessary adjustment before the veneers are finally cemented permanently into your teeth. What the dentist will use to bond the veneer to the teeth is a special cement and a light beam to harden the cement.

Why are veneers beneficial?

  • Veneers provide a natural and improved appearance for your teeth
  • Porcelain veneers can resist stains well
  • Veneers do not require extensive shaping of your teeth because only a little amount of your tooth enamel is removed and that means these are stronger and more aesthetic alternative
  • Gum tissue can tolerate porcelain materials well
  • The color of the materials used for veneers can be chosen depending on the shade of your teeth, which can make the shade of your teeth appear brighter while looking natural

Having dental veneers do not require any special care, but in order to make sure these are going to last for years, you simply have to maintain proper oral hygiene. For more information on dental veneers, you can contact our dental offices:

Dental Savers at Northeast Dental

(215) 297-6368

10847 Bustleton Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19116

 

Dental Savers at Mayfair Dental

(215) 792-3055

6412 Frankford Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19135

 

Dental Savers at Fairless Hills

(215) 261-7003

483 South Oxford Valley Road

Fairless Hills, PA 19030