1. What are the advantages of veneers?

Porcelain Veneers are wonderful restorations. Their primary advantages over porcelain crowns are that they require much less drilling on the teeth than crowns do, they are excellent solutions for chipped or fractured front teeth, they can be used to close gaps (diastemas) between teeth, they can change the shape or contours of teeth ( i.e. "peg" lateral incisors or "fangs" which are very pointed eye teeth or cuspids), and they can be used to change the color or the shade of teeth. They are wonderfully versatile restorations and as I stated they require minimal or, in some cases, no grinding on the teeth. Even if tooth reduction is necessary the dentist usuallly only reduces the tooth by 1/2 millimeter (less than 1/16 of an inch) and only on the front surface and edge of the tooth while a porcelain crown will require reduction that is 3 times that much or more all the way around the entire tooth. Hence they are a much more conservative restoration than full porcelain crowns are. They are also custom made in the laboratory just as a crown is. Because they are bonded to the tooth instead of being cemented, it has been my experience that when this bonding is done ideally the veneer is much more resistant to coming off a tooth than a crown is because the crown must use cement to be held on and most dental cements do not bond to the underlying tooth like the bonding material does under the veneer.


2. How are teeth prepared for a veneer?

The tooth preparation for a veneer is very similar to that of a crown except that the tooth reduction is much less for a veneer as opposed to a crown. Depending on the situation and the individual, anesthetic may or may not be needed whereas for a cown preparation anesthetic is always necessary. An impression or mold of the tooth or teeth is then taken after the preparation is finished. This impression is sent to the dental laboratory where a plaster of paris type model is made of the prepared teeth and the veneer is made to fit this model perfectly.


3. Will I need a temporary veneer between visits?

Teeth that are being veneered do not usually need temporaries. Sometimes, if a tooth is in a highly esthetic zone and the veneer is being done because of a fracture of the tooth then a temporary veneer will be made. However, temporary veneers are very lightly bonded to the tooth because if they are fully bonded they can be difficult to completely remove in order to place the porcelain veneer. Because they are so lightly bonded and because they only cover part of the natural tooth (a temporary crown goes around the entire tooth) temporary veneers can have a problem with coming off of the tooth. However since enamel is left on the veneer tooth no damage is done to the tooth if the temporary veneer comes off. The only disadvantage is the way it looks.


4. What happens after the veneer is fitted?

After the dental laboratory makes the custom porcelain veneer restoration, the patient returns for the fitting and hopefully bonding of the porcelain veneer to the patient' s natural tooth. The bite and contacts with the adjacent teeth are checked and adjusted if necessary and in our office digital photos are taken both at this finish appointment and also before treatment is started. The veneer is then bonded, finished and polished. After bonding of the veneer is completed the patient is given instructions on how to care for the veneer at home and restrictions as to what should be eaten on the veneer tooth are discussed. Generally, all porcelain restorations (crowns and veneers) can fracture under certain circumstances. Natural teeth can fracture so porcelain can too. Generally a person with porcelain veneers would want to use good judgement in their selection of things to chew on. Extremely hard nuts, hard candy, chewing ice or pens or pencils, biting into chicken or rib bones or playing sports without a mouthguard are things that should be avoided if one has porcelain veneers in their mouth. It would be a good idea to avoid these things even if one has just their own natural teeth as well.


5. Are porcelain veneers resistant to staining?

Because porcelain veneers are made of oven glazed porcelain at very high temperatures they do NOT stain. Bonded restorations will stain because they are made of plastic which microscopically is a very porous material. Glazed porcelain is not porous hence it will not stain.


6. Why are porcelain veneers referred to as "instant orthodontics?"

Porcelain veneers are often referred to as "instant orthodontics" because veneers can be used to close gaps between teeth, correct misaligned or rotated teeth or correct overlapped teeth. However, veneers are a restorative and not an orthodontic treatment so treatment planning is critical in determing whether veneers alone can correct orthodontic problems. Today dentists often use an orthodontic treatment (Invisalign can be one) in combination with porcelain veneers in order to straighten teeth and correct both orthodontic as well as esthetic concerns for patients.