Dental concerns like gaps, stains, discoloration, cracks, or crowding can significantly impair your smile and restrict your confidence. Fortunately, there are many options available to restore and improve your smile. One of these cosmetic dentistry procedures is the porcelain veneer, where your cosmetic dentist bonds ultra-thin, tailored ceramic shells to the anterior surface of the teeth to fix the dental concern that is lowering your quality of life.
At Agoura Hills Advanced Dentistry, we have the best cosmetic dentistry practitioners who have performed multiple porcelain veneer procedures, equipping them with the experience and skills to meet your expectations. When you want to fix the visual impairment impeding your confidence, we have highlighted the purpose of porcelain veneers, candidacy, the installation process, post-installation instructions, and cost to help you know what to expect.
Porcelain Veneers Definition
A porcelain veneer is a thin porcelain or composite resin shell or piece placed on the facial surface of visible teeth to reshape or replace damaged sections of a tooth to improve or recreate the original appearance of the teeth. Porcelain veneers are commonly used for aesthetics, but you can also use them to strengthen the tooth enamel. When your primary concern is your smile, porcelain veneers are recommended because they recreate the damaged tooth, giving the enamel a natural look that other cosmetic dental procedures might not achieve.
Porcelain Veneers Purposes
Your cosmetic dentist can use porcelain veneers for several purposes. The cosmetic dental issues that could cause you to seek porcelain veneer treatment include:
Worn Enamel or Tooth Erosion
Many factors can contribute to tooth erosion or wear. One of them is poor dental habits like smoking, overconsumption of tea, soft drinks, and coffee, and the use of particular medications can erode or wear away the enamel, exposing the dentin or pulp, leading to several complications like tooth sensitivity, intrinsic stains, and cavities. Worn enamel can also be caused by genetic predisposition. Whatever the cause of the enamel erosion, not fixing the problem early can weaken the teeth, exposing you to several issues that require more advanced treatment. However, you can arrest the erosion early and restore the strength of the weakened teeth using porcelain veneers.
Tooth Sensitivity
Dental erosion or worn enamel exposes you to tooth sensitivity, especially when you consume acidic foods and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Again, taking hot or cold substances can trigger sensitivity. However, when you attach a thin porcelain shell over the sensitive teeth, you provide an additional layer of protection, preventing the sensitivity.
Misshapen Teeth
Uneven or misshapen teeth can happen naturally, with teeth irregularly shaped and sized. Other times, the irregular shapes and sizes can be due to natural wear or grinding—misshapen teeth, especially the front ones, significantly impede your smile and confidence. Uneven posterior teeth, on the other hand, can cause bite issues. Porcelain veneers to restore uniformity in the teeth, improving your bite and smile.
Tooth Discoloration
When tooth erosion continues for a long time, it exposes the dentin, which is the yellow layer of the enamel, causing a yellowish discoloration. Other times, the teeth can stain because of dietary choices, although these stains are temporary and can be removed through whitening. Stains or discoloration from certain medications, such as tetracycline, are permanent and cause the teeth to turn brown or grey. Whitening is the standard way of removing stains or discoloration. However, if some stains are stubborn and denting your smile, you can cover the affected teeth with thin pieces of porcelain to conceal them and restore your natural smile.
Gaps or Spaces in the Teeth
Spaces in the mouth can make your smile conspicuous. Fortunately, you can fix these gaps by installing porcelain veneers on the sides of the affected teeth to increase their shape or size and eliminate the spaces.
Veneers can address several dental concerns that are impairing your smile. However, knowing how your dental practitioner will use these restorations to recreate your smile without a consultation is difficult. Therefore, when experiencing any of these oral problems, you should arrange a meeting with your dentist to evaluate and create a treatment plan that suits your cosmetic dental needs. Again, you can discuss whether you qualify for the installation, as not everyone is a candidate.
Porcelain Veneers Candidacy
When repairing your teeth to recreate a natural appearance, you should first consult your cosmetic dentist. There are several types of veneers, including porcelain ones, so it is wise to discuss the available materials and select the most appropriate one, considering the price and your dental needs and goals. Before meeting the dentist, you can conduct your homework on the available veneer materials so that you can make suggestions based on your information when the dentist discusses them.
The initial appointment before the veneer installation is crucial because you discuss the available options and your eligibility for the treatment. Not everyone can undergo a porcelain veneer treatment to improve their smile. The candidacy issue will also be addressed in the preliminary appointment.
What are the expectations during the initial appointment? Your cosmetic dentist will examine your teeth and gums to identify the visual impairments denting your smile. Cosmetic dental practitioners prefer providing less or minimally invasive solutions for dental concerns that impair the smile. Therefore, when they identify issues like teeth misalignment, gaps, chipped or misshapen teeth, cracked teeth, worn enamel, or tooth discoloration, they recommend minimally invasive treatments like veneers. However, if these concerns are severe or the teeth are crooked, the dentist will refer you to an orthodontist for advanced treatments like braces or clear aligners. So, seeking treatment early before it advances can protect you from highly invasive and expensive treatments.
Porcelain veneers require enamel removal to reshape the teeth and place the thin shells properly. The enamel removal is permanent and can affect the tooth structure. Therefore, your teeth must have sufficient enamel to reshape without significantly weakening them. Additionally, you must discuss the veneer materials and the option you want because the changes that will happen to the teeth are irreversible. You should discuss the alternatives and their pros and cons to make the right decision.
When you decide you want porcelain veneers, the next phase will be to discuss the treatment details. Your dental expert will explain the preparations, the cost, treatment duration, and expectations.
Take advantage of the initial consultations to ask any questions about the procedure. Additionally, your cosmetic dentist must understand your dental needs and the goals you want to achieve once the installation is completed. The right dentist will involve you in the smile design process to ensure the treatment plan captures your veneer shade, size, and shape preferences. Doing so will ensure the treatment helps you achieve your goals. It is a mistake to leave the dental clinic without clearly communicating your expectations because this will lead to unmet expectations.
Expectations in a Pre-Porcelain Veneer Treatment
Veneer placement requires two appointments within one and a half months. The first appointment is the pre-installation phase. The main procedures carried out in this stage are:
- Inquiries About Your Medical History
A competent dental expert will be interested in your medical history because it will affect the current treatment. If you have a dental implant, you should mention it to the dentist. Also, if you should not be exposed to radiation, mention it to the dentist because an X-ray could be necessary to determine the extent of your dental concern. In a situation like this, the dentist should explore another alternative for the X-ray that does not expose you to radiation.
- X-ray Imaging
Imaging using an X-ray will be necessary if the dentist suspects you have periodontitis or decay that could affect the success of the treatment. If you have been cleared for the procedure, imaging should take at most two minutes, depending on the technician. Some clinics do not have imaging devices in-house, so you could be forced to seek the services outside the facility and bring back the results to your dental expert.
- Dental Examination
The dentist will inspect the teeth to detect the dental issues that affect your smile. The tools used for the examination are mirrors, and the dentist inspects each tooth one at a time. You will not feel any pain during this phase.
The Process of Installing Porcelain Veneers
The attachment of veneers follows intricate steps, which include:
Tooth Preparation
The affected teeth must undergo reshaping to enable proper placement of the porcelain shells. Reshaping entails removing a small amount, no more than half a millimeter, using a bur, a handled device used to cut the enamel. The process can be uncomfortable, so the dentist will administer local anesthesia to keep you comfortable.
Making an Impression of your Teeth
The next step entails making an impression of the teeth and sending it to the dental lab to fabricate the final porcelain veneers. Many dental clinics have yet to incorporate advanced technology into their facilities, so most fabrications do not happen in-house. Impressions are taken to another facility for fabrication.
However, if you are careful enough when hiring a cosmetic dentist and find one that has invested in advanced dental technology, the fabrication of the veneers can happen in-house with the use of CAM/CAD technology. The technology has improved the precision of porcelain veneers and reduced the fabrication time. With this technology, you can complete the porcelain veneer installation in a single visit, saving you time and eliminating the need for temporary veneers, commonly installed when awaiting the permanent ones.
Without the technology, you will use the temporary veneers, although it will depend on your case. If your tooth enamel has sufficient density, or if only one or two teeth have been prepped, temporary veneers are unnecessary. However, you will experience sensitivity when you expose the teeth to hot or cold substances. The best way to lower the sensitivity is to wear the temporary veneers.
Fabrication takes two to three weeks, even when advanced technology is involved. The treatment can only be completed once the permanent veneers are ready.
Permanently Bonding the Porcelain Pieces to the Teeth
When the custom veneers arrive from the dental lab, you will make the final dental appointment. In the meeting, the dentist will review the color of the veneers and compare them with your natural teeth to ensure they match. The natural teeth color varies from one patient to another, depending on the patient’s dental hygiene and genetics. Therefore, your veneers must mimic the color of your natural teeth to recreate an original appearance. This is why the dental lab technician must perform a color tinting before sending the veneers to your dentist to ensure the shade of your veneers matches that of the original healthy teeth.
If the porcelain shells fit perfectly and the color matches the shade of your natural, healthy teeth, your dentist will use an adhesive cement to bond the trays to the tooth surfaces. Cementing the custom shells to the teeth completes the porcelain veneer installation process.
Post-Treatment Care
Porcelain veneers are designed to last for decades or even a lifetime, depending on how you care for them. Before leaving the dental clinic, your dentist will share tips for maintaining the veneers for optimum performance. Tips to care for the fixtures after installation are:
- Observing Proper Dental Hygiene
Dentists encourage you to brush your teeth twice daily using an abrasive toothpaste. Brushing, particularly after staining substances like coffee or tea, minimizes the risk of staining. Again, brushing prevents plaque and calculus accumulation in the mouth, producing harmful bacteria that could affect your dental structure, leading to oral problems like gum disease and decay. So, after the installation, continue with your dental hygiene routine to keep your teeth healthy and prevent discoloration of your fixtures.
- Steer Clear of Bad Oral Habits Like Chewing Hard Substances
You should avoid chewing or biting complex substances because it increases the chipping, fracturing, or displacement of the porcelain veneer, causing the treatment to fail. Habits like opening bottle tops with your teeth also increase the risk of the teeth fixtures failing. Before going home, ask about the foods you should eat after the installation to preserve the fixtures. Usually, you do not have to adjust your diet. Limiting the pressure you apply to the teeth when chewing can enable you to enjoy your meals as usual, even the ones that are hard to chew, without the risk of chipping.
- Maintain Frequent Visits to Your Dentist
Maintaining good oral health and hygiene entails visiting the dentist at least twice annually for an oral examination. Regular visits, particularly after the fixtures are installed, enable the dentist to track their performance and check if they are firmly secured to the enamel.
Additionally, the regular appointments enable the dentist to detect oral issues that might have arisen after the installation. Some oral issues, like periodontal disease in advanced stages, can result in tooth loss, rendering the porcelain veneer treatment a failure. Routine dental visits are essential because they enable the dentist to identify gum disease and other dental issues at the onset, when it is possible to reverse them or prevent progression, leading to the need for more advanced dental procedures and veneer failure.
Porcelain veneers are polishable, meaning they do not stain easily. Therefore, when you notice discoloration in your teeth, it is a sign of an underlying dental illness. When the dentist discovers such a problem, they must uninstall or dislodge the veneer on the affected teeth and address the underlying problem or tooth damage before installing new ones.
- Learn to Control Teeth Grinding or Jaw Clenching
Porcelain veneers are prone to cracking and chipping. The risk is higher in patients with jaw clenching and teeth grinding habits. If you have a misaligned jawbone, you might be forced to adjust it often to achieve a comfortable position. Additionally, anxiety or stress can cause you to grind your teeth. Repeated clenching or grinding erodes the enamel, leading to severe damage even to the tooth fixture. If you have these habits, your dental expert will advise you on managing them to protect the veneers. Wearing a mouth guard or other mouth device before bed can minimize the damage from these habits.
Porcelain Veneers Cost
Porcelain veneers are expensive compared to other veneer materials. The cost ranges from $1,500 to $5,000 per veneer. The cost varies from facility to facility, depending on several factors like the number of damaged teeth. The price is set per tooth, meaning the more teeth requiring veneers, the more money you must spend.
Another factor that affects price is the dentist’s location. Cosmetic dentists in rural areas or towns will charge less than their counterparts in cities because of factors like operation costs and the type of demographic. Running a dental clinic in cities is expensive, so dentists must charge more. Also, most of the clients are rich, enabling them to charge high rates.
Other factors include:
- The dentist’s expertise or technical skills
- Available financing options
- Require complementary services
Shop for quotes from various practitioners to hire those offering quality cosmetic dentistry services at reasonable rates.
Find a Reputable Cosmetic Dentistry Service Near Me
Misshapen, fractured, chipped, stained, discolored, or spaced teeth can lead to an unsightly smile, impeding your confidence. You can restore or recreate a beautiful natural smile using cosmetic dentistry solutions, like porcelain veneers. When choosing porcelain veneers to restore your smile and strengthen your enamel, you must find a dental expert who understands the procedure and has the artistic skills to deliver your expectations. At Agoura Hills Advanced Dentistry, we have cosmetic dentists with the best technical skills in the industry who can install the fixtures you need for the smile you have always dreamed about. Call us at 818-878-7300 for a no-obligation consultation.