All About Dental Veneers

Dental Veneers are also commonly known as porcelain veneers or dental laminates. Though Dental veneers are quite common not many are aware of its applications and benefits or its uses. So, read on to know more about Dental veneers in details. To start with, what are Dental Veneers?

Dental Veneers are an essential part of cosmetic dentistry and are shell-like structures usually custom-made and composed of composite resin or porcelain or other teeth coloring materials that are extensively used to cover the front surface of the tooth to enhance its cosmetic appearance.

The dental veneers process

We usually bond the dental veneers to the front surface of the tooth using dental cement to attach both parts together and alter the appearance. With dental veneers, we can alter the size, length, and shape of the tooth.

While the primary purpose of dental veneers is for enhancing the cosmetic appearance of the front surface of our teeth, we typically recommended Dental Veneers to cover up discolored tooth after an extensive root canal treatment. In other cases, we will use dental veneers due to stains from excessive use of fluoride or other components like tetracycline.

Often, teeth are also discolored or the shape changes due to resin-based fillings. In those cases, dental veneers come in real handy to restore the perfect appearance of the teeth. Dental Veneers are also extensively used and recommended to restore the appearance of broken or chipped teeth, uneven teeth (those with bulges and crafts) and they are also applied to fill up the gap between two teeth. Dental veneers are also helpful in aligning misaligned teeth.

Materials and Type of Dental Veneers

We generally select or categorize Dental Veneers based on its material. The dental veneers can be broadly classified as:

1. Porcelain based dental veneers

2. Resin or composite resin-based material which resembles the natural color, texture or composition or original human teeth

Most of the time we prefer porcelain based dental veneers due to its strong and resilient nature and is usually more durable than it resins based counterpart. But on the other hand, it also offers some disadvantages. Porcelain based dental veneers take longer to install had to preorder in the lab costs more and requires an extensive maintenance and it's hard to fix if gone wrong.

On the contrary, resin-based dental veneers can be prepared by us in our chamber itself and takes one single office visit to install, easy to maintain and fix and more importantly its pocket-friendly although it's not that strong and durable compared to the porcelain based ones. However, type of dental veneer is usually selected by us based on the patient's diagnosis, treatment plan, and tooth condition.

A professional treatment for long-term use

In the United States, placing dental veneers can cost a patient anywhere between $500 to $2000 and usually lasts for 10-20 years. Just like any other implants, dental veneers need its fair share of routine cleaning, care, and maintenance. Caring for dental veneers are much like caring for one's own natural teeth.

Daily brushing with an appropriate toothpaste usually recommended by us-the dentists and regular flossing helps to maintain the dental veneers perfectly. In addition, it is recommended that we check the dental veneers on a regular basis to make sure everything is in place and in good shape with the veneers.