There are a variety of dental issues with the teeth that can be addressed with the placement of dental veneers. The appearance of the teeth can change as a person gets older. They can become stained from the consumption of dark foods and beverages or a lack of properly brushing them on a regular basis. The teeth might not be properly aligned and have spaces between them. They could also be broken or chipped as the result of an accident or trauma suffered by the teeth. A dental veneer, usually made of a thin piece of porcelain, is placed on the front surface of the teeth to enhance or alter the look of the teeth.
Cosmetic Town TV has the information patients need to know about dental veneers with this in-depth look at the treatment:
When a patient visits the office of a dentist to get teeth veneers, the dentist will need to prepare a tooth so it will be ready for the placement of the veneer. The preparation of the tooth involves the removal of some of the enamel surface of the tooth. The total amount of enamel that will need to be removed depends on the alignment of the teeth and the type of veneer used during the treatment.
The process of preparing a tooth to receive a veneer begins with the dentist taking an impression of the tooth. The impression is made using impression paste that is placed on the tooth for about three minutes. The patient will bite down into the paste to create the impression of the tooth as well as its bite. Once the impression is created, it will be sent to a dental lab that will manufacture the actual veneers.
While the patient is waiting for the actual porcelain veneers to be placed on the teeth, a temporary set of veneers will be made using an acrylic material. This temporary set of veneers is cemented onto the area being treated in the mouth. It should be noted that temporary veneers do not have the natural look and final shading of the final veneers created in the dental lab. However, they can resemble the look of the tooth so the patient will not have to worry about the temporary veneers being too obvious to others. In addition, they will likely have a rougher feel or texture than the natural enamel of the teeth of the patient. Patients should avoid biting into hard foods or eating and drinking anything that will stain the acrylic material of the temporary veneers while they are in the mouth.
The final veneers will be returned to the office of the dentist about a week after the impressions were made and sent to the dental lab. The veneers are placed on the area being treated by the dentist to make sure they have a proper fit on the teeth. The dentist also checks to make sure the bite is correct for the patient. Once the proper fit has been determined, the veneers will be cemented onto the specific teeth being treated by the dentist.
Once the veneer is placed on the teeth, the dentist will check the bite again to ensure the bite of the patient is not happening incorrectly with the veneers. If the bite is incorrect or “off”, the dentist might need to make a few tiny reduction in the teeth that are next to the veneers.
In general, dental veneers can last anywhere from 7-20 years depending on how well the patient takes care of them once they have been placed in the mouth.
When it comes to proper maintenance and care for dental veneers, patients should avoid eating any foods that are hard as they might cause the veneers to chip or break. In addition, food and drinks that are dark in color can cause the veneers to become stained and discolored. Unlike natural teeth, veneers cannot be whitened through the use of professional or at-home teeth whitening treatments.
Veneers can be protected while people are sleeping by wearing a night guard to protect the veneers from the act of grinding that can impact the enamel.
Patients that are interested in getting dental veneers should visit a dentist to learn more about the differences between veneers and a dental crown for the teeth. A crown will normally cover the entire tooth while a veneer only covers the front surface of the tooth. In addition, veneers only have a thickness of about 1-milimeter while dental crowns are thicker at about 2-milimeters in thickness.
The cosmetic dentist can examine the teeth of the patient to learn about their overall current condition and also determine if veneers can help a patient achieve their desired final results. Once the patient and the doctor have decided on a course of action, the process of creating and placing the veneers can begin.
MA