All About Veneers

At Hancock Village Dental, we offer multiple options to improve the appearance of your smile. One of those options is the implementation of dental veneers. These extremely thin shells of tooth colored material are specifically designed to fit over the front of the teeth to improve the aesthetic appearance of your smile. Once the veneers are put on, they will have the appearance of natural teeth immediately improving the look of your teeth.

Makeup

Dental veneers are either made from porcelain or resin composite material. The porcelain veneers have many advantages such as resisting stains better and mimicking light that reflects the properties of natural teeth. Resin veneers are thinner and require the removal of less tooth surface prior to being attached.

Reasons for Installing Veneers

The application of veneers onto your natural teeth can solve several problems. These include discolored teeth, worn down teeth, chipped or broken teeth, misaligned, uneven, or irregularly shaped teeth, and gapped teeth. Discolored, worn down, or chipped teeth will be fixed by full, naturally colored veneers being applied. Misaligned or gapped teeth will be visually properly aligned by the veneers.

Procedure of Application

The application of veneers is a three appointment process. The first visit will be for a consultation with the dentist where he will examine your teeth. The second appointment will be for the making of the veneers and the third visit will be for the application of the veneers.

Diagnosis and Treatment Planning

The first step of the application of veneers is identifying the objective. Is the purpose of the application to whiten your teeth or is the purpose to change the size and shape of the teeth? The dentist will examine your teeth and make a determination on whether or not veneers are the right option for you. If it is determined that the application of veneers is the right move forward, the procedure will be discussed.

Preparation

To prepare for the application of the veneers, about one-half millimeter of enamel will be removed from the tooth’s surface. That’s approximately the thickness of the veneer that will be applied. Your dentist will discuss the possibility of using a local anesthetic to make the application as painless as possible. The next step will be to make an impression of the teeth that will be covered. This impression will be sent to a dental laboratory who will construct the veneers. The completed veneers are typically received one to two weeks later. During that time, you may be able to have temporary veneers placed on your teeth.

Application of Veneers

The third visit in the process will be the actual application of the veneers. However, before that takes place, the dentist will make sure that the veneers are exactly as they should be. This is because once they are applied, the process is irreversible. The dentist will adjust the veneers to ensure that they are the proper fit and the proper shade. The fit can be adjusted by trimming the veneers. The shade can be adjusted by shading the cement that is used to apply the veneer onto the tooth. Once the veneers are ready to be applied, the teeth are cleaned, polished, and etched in preparation for application.

To apply the veneers, the dentist will use a special cement and the veneer will be placed over the cement and the tooth. Then a special light beam will be used to harden the cement. The light beam will make the cement harden very quickly expediting the process. To finish the application, any excess cement that remains will be removed from the area and the dentist will check the patient’s bite to ensure they are on correctly.

Advantages of Veneers

There are several advantages of having veneers applied to unsightly or misaligned teeth. These include creating an improved, natural look in appearance, gum tissue is more tolerable to porcelain, they are stain resistant, the color of the porcelain can make darker teeth appear whiter, and they offer a conservative approach to the changing of the color and the shape of teeth.

If you have discolored or misaligned teeth, veneers may be the right choice for you. At Hancock Village Dental, we can apply veneers or find the right treatment to improve your smile. So if you’re unhappy with your smile, come visit us.