For someone living with minor chips, gaps, stains or discoloration on their teeth, porcelain veneers can help them achieve a perfect, Hollywood-worthy smile. Dental veneers can give a person a total smile makeover without the time and complications of more involved treatments, but they’re not for everyone. Anyone considering veneers can greatly benefit by doing research and discussing the procedure with their dental professional.
Understanding porcelain veneers
Porcelain veneers cover the existing teeth of a patient to achieve a perfect smile. Veneers are as thin as a contact lens and the dentist customizes them to fit the patient’s teeth and blend seamlessly with their natural tooth enamel. When done properly with porcelain and not resin, veneers blend perfectly with a person’s existing smile and are impossible to detect. With proper dental care that includes daily brushing and flossing and regular dental exams and cleanings, porcelain veneers can last 10-20 years and are very durable. They resist stains and discoloration and their color remains stable. However, porcelain veneers are still vulnerable like natural teeth and can chip from trauma such as playing contact sports, chewing pens or pencils and using teeth to open packages. Using a mouthguard during sports can protect veneers and natural teeth and they should only be used for chewing, not as tools.
Good candidates for veneers
Anyone bothered by their stained or chipped teeth or embarrassed by slight gaps can benefit from veneers. Consuming liquids such as tea, soda or coffee, having poor dental hygiene, smoking or using other tobacco products can all stain teeth with time and sometimes even professional teeth whitening can’t remove the stains. Porcelain veneers can also cover chips and minor gaps in teeth caused by slightly misaligned teeth or trauma. One of the best things about veneers is that it usually only takes two dental visits for the dentist to place them. At the first appointment, the dentist makes an impression of the patient’s teeth and a lab custom makes the veneers. During the next visit, the dentist bonds the veneers to the natural teeth with a strong adhesive in a process that most patients find painless.
Investing in a perfect smile
Someone who wants to invest in the perfect smile possible with porcelain veneers may wonder about the cost and that’s determined by the required number of veneers to achieve the desired results. The best results come from an experienced, trained and highly-skilled cosmetic dentist who knows how to create veneers to blend seamlessly with the rest of the patient’s teeth. With the right application, veneers give a patient a brighter, straighter smile that can last for decades with proper care.
If you’re considering porcelain veneers to cover the stains, discoloration, chips or gaps in your teeth, contact our experienced professionals at Greater Baltimore Prosthodontics.