Facts and Benefits of Dental Porcelain Veneers
There’s no reason to put up with gaps in your teeth or with teeth that are stained, badly shaped or crooked. Today a veneer placed on top of your teeth can correct nature’s mistake or the results of an injury and help you have a beautiful smile.
Porcelain veneers are ultra-thin shells of ceramic material, which are bonded to the front of teeth. This procedure requires little or no anesthesia, and can be the ideal choice for improving the appearance of the front teeth.
Benefits of Dental Porcelain Veneers
This procedure has several advantages over other tooth restoration procedures. Porcelain is an extremely durable material with a color, translucence and texture that is similar to tooth enamel. It is not susceptible to decay and resists staining while maintaining a natural appearance.
Veneers can effectively close diastemas (gaps between teeth), lengthen and reshape teeth, repair chipped, broken, or misshapen teeth, and cover stains and discolorations.
After your teeth have been prepared and before your permanent veneers have been applied, appearance should be fairly normal. Some sensitivity may be encountered mainly with cold drinks. Using a straw can alleviate this problem.
During this period, you should brush regularly, as your teeth will be more susceptible to staining. Regular flossing is important, too, since swollen or bleeding gums compromise bonding the veneers on permanently.
Once your veneers are permanently placed, they will feel like a natural part of your teeth, and you can use them just as you would your regular teeth. However, veneers are not indestructible. To protect your veneers from chipping, avoid biting down into hard substances. Slice apples before eating them. Avoid bad habits like chewing on fingernails, pencils, or paperclips and clenching or grinding your teeth.
Facts about Porcelain Veneers
- Since they require approximately .5mm of tooth reduction, porcelain veneers are NOT considered a reversible form of treatment.
- Occasionally the preparation of a Porcelain Laminate Veneer does not necessitate the use of a local anesthetic. However, for those patients that are particularly sensitive or anxious, a local anesthetic is advisable.
- The laboratory time required for the fabrication of a Porcelain Laminate Veneer is approximately one week. Due to the minimal amount of tooth reduction, it is usually not necessary to fabricate any type of temporary restoration. Should a temporary be needed, they can, in most circumstances, be made at the time of treatment.
- Between your preparation visit and the insertion visit, you can expect some sensitivity to hot and cold. This is normal and is due to the removal of a small portion of the enamel covering of the tooth. This sensitivity should disappear after the placement of your Porcelain Laminate Veneer.
- Your second visit, the insertion of your laminate, can be accomplished, once again , with or without local anesthetic. This visit is usually longer in length. The laminates are placed with a light sensitive resin which is hardened by using a white light.
- Once placed your laminates are very strong and will resist most of the forces placed upon them by a normal diet. Porcelain has great crushing strength but poor tensile strength. Therefore, you should avoid anything that will tend to twist the laminate. Opening pistachio nuts with your teeth, chewing on bones or jelly apples is probably not a good idea. As with most things, common sense should prevail.
Porcelain Veneers Cost
Porcelain veneers prices will vary depending on the area you live in and the difficulty of your case. Talk to your doctor at the consultation appointment to get an estimate of the costs. There is a very wide range in cost for veneers, because of the many variables involved with each patient. You can expect approximate costs to fall in a range from $200 up to $2000.
For example, Los Angeles (Beverly Hills veneers, Chicago or San Francisco) porcelain veneers costs well above than porcelain veneers in Prague.
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