Dental Veneers: Procedure, Types, and After-Care

Dental veneers represent thin tooth-colored shells attached to the front surfaces of your teeth to improve their appearance. Porcelain is often used to customize traditional dental veneers. However, you can also purchase composite resin veneers and laminates to have them permanently bonded to your teeth.

Dental veneers near you help conceal many cosmetic concerns with your teeth, including discolored, chipped, broken, or tinier than average teeth.

You are free to choose how many veneers you want over your teeth. However, many people are getting around 6 to 8 veneers to cover the top front eight teeth to have a symmetrical smile.

Types of Veneers

Porcelain is the material that commonly helps make traditional veneers that require intensive preparatory work before having them over your teeth. However, if you choose no prep or composite resin veneers, they are applied using a different process.

If you choose to have traditional veneers from the dentist in Saint Paul, MN, the procedure entails removing tooth structure past the enamel to allow proper surface placement. Unfortunately, the process is not reversible, and you might experience pain for which the dentist provides local anesthesia.

Alternatively, composite resin veneers and laminates require minimal tooth preparation, and application is completed in one visit by the dentist.

The Best Type of Veneer

When considering the best veneers for your teeth, you must consider several factors, including the cost of the surfaces, the time required for the installation, the appearance of the covers, longevity, and your dentist’s recommendations.

Porcelain veneers are the most expensive, costing approximately $ 2200-$ 2500 per tooth but remaining on your teeth for nearly two decades with proper care. In addition, porcelain veneers are less likely to strain and require at least two visits to the dentist.

Composite resin veneers will likely cost you fewer dollars and require merely one visit to the dentist for the placement. Intensive tooth structure removal is unnecessary, and the surfaces are straightforward to fix. Unfortunately, they do not have the lifespan of porcelain veneers and remain on your teeth for five to seven years. They are also more prone to damage than traditional veneers.

Laminates are the most affordable, and the procedure requires two visits to the dentist. However, they also last five to seven years and require replacements faster than traditional veneers.

Benefits of Dental Veneers

Improving the appearance of your teeth is the most significant benefit of dental veneers. The placements can give you a brighter and even smile. In addition, dental veneers help treat cosmetic concerns like broken or chipped teeth, severely discolored teeth, gaps between your teeth, and tinier than average teeth or unusually shaped teeth. Veneers last for a decade, depending on your chosen type, making them a worthy investment that makes you confident with your smile.

The Veneer Procedure

Before getting dental veneers, you must schedule a preliminary appointment with your dentist to discuss which options are best for your needs and how many surfaces you want to have. Sometimes if you have crooked or uneven teeth, the dentist might recommend you get braces before considering dental veneers.

Your dentist takes x-rays of your teeth to evaluate your dental and look for signs of tooth decay and gum disease or the risk of infections to the dental pulp. If you have any conditions, the dentist negates your candidature for dental veneers.

Fortunately, if you are free from dental conditions, the dentist trims your teeth by about half a millimeter, removing tooth enamel and dentin if you have selected porcelain veneers. They also take impressions of your teeth to get the shells customized from a dental laboratory and provide temporary acrylic veneers over your prepared teeth for protection.

Three weeks after the preparation, you visit the dentist for your final appointment to have the permanent surface bonded to your teeth after removing the temporary acrylic veneers.

If placing composite resin surfaces, you need one visit to the dentist and about an hour to have a single tooth covered. However, having laminates over your teeth is straightforward because you merely provide images of your mouth and teeth for the laboratory to create your surfaces and get the veneers over your teeth in a couple of weeks during your second appointment.

Dental Veneers After-Care

Dental veneers do not have downtime or require a lengthy period for recovery. You can start eating and chewing after the veneers are bonded to your teeth, and any anesthesia wears off.

Traditional veneers last for nearly two decades, and alternatives last for five to seven years. However, you can prolong the lifespan of veneers by following the preventive measures mentioned below.

Avoid chewing on complex objects like pens, ice, or fingernails.

Avoid chewing with your front teeth and eat hard foods with your molars by cutting them into smaller pieces.

If you clench and grind your teeth, consider getting light guards to protect the veneers and your natural teeth.

Wear a mouthguard if involved in contact sports.

Besides the above dental veneer after-care involves:

• Brushing your teeth twice daily.
• Flossing them at least once.
• Get six monthly dental exams and cleanings as recommended by your dentist.

Little Canada Dental provides dental veneers of all varieties to hide dental flaws affecting your front teeth. Improve the appearance of your teeth and smile by scheduling an appointment with this practice for dental veneers.