Achieve the Smile you Desire with Porcelain Veneers

Veneers are an integral and indispensable part of cosmetic dentistry. Porcelain veneers are by far the most effective and the popular ones. We treat conditions that require placing or fitting veneers. Porcelain veneers can help restore a smile in all its glory and help individuals enjoy smiling each day.

Covering the basics

Before going through the procedure for porcelain veneers, it is important to understand the basics of porcelain and other types of dental veneers. Dental veneers are thin structures, resembling teeth that we place over the natural tooth. We can customize the porcelain veneer's color, texture, size and shape to match the patient's surrounding teeth. There are multiple reasons that we will use porcelain veneers as a treatment for the patient's teeth, including:

• Aligning misaligned teeth
• Diminishing/reducing gaps between teeth
• Restoring chipped or crooked teeth
• Covering up stains

Porcelain veneers consist of porcelain that we mold to match the front of the patient's tooth by using resin cement. After taking a mold of the patient's teeth, a dental lab will customize the veneers to exact specifications.

Benefits of using porcelain dental veneers

There are multiple reasons for why we prefer to use porcelain veneers instead of composite resin veneers. First, porcelain veneers are resilient, durable and strong. With this durability, the porcelain veneers are less likely to crack or break with proper care. Second, porcelain veneers do not stain easily. Since it is difficult to stain porcelain veneers, the patient will not have to worry about the veneer staining or becoming discolored.

Third, we do not need to remove nearly as much of the tooth's natural enamel when using porcelain veneers as opposed to other types of dental veneers. It is important to determine if a patient is a strong candidate for porcelain veneers since the treatment may not work for everyone. People may not realize that there is a certain level of care necessary to maintain porcelain veneers. People need to brush the surrounding teeth and floss between the veneer and teeth since food can stick between them.

Fitting procedure for porcelain veneers

It usually takes three visits to fit a patient with porcelain veneers. During the first visit, we examine the patient's oral health and treat any signs of tooth decay or gum disease. We will then go over the necessary information and take a mold of the teeth to send to the lab. During the next visit, we will remove a small portion of the enamel to ensure that the veneer will match the length and width of the surrounding teeth.

We will then place a temporary veneer to check the size while ordering the actual veneer from the lab. The order can take about two weeks. The final step involves the bonding process that we perform in 1-2 hours. In this step, we remove the temporary veneer from the patient's tooth and place the permanent veneer.

Once Gables Exceptional Dentistry completes the restoration and fitting of the porcelain dental veneer, we will go over proper care techniques.