What Are Porcelain Veneers?

If your smile is not as bright or as balanced as you think it could be, veneers are a great option to make those improvements.  Porcelain veneers provide you with the enhancement of a whiter smile or a chipped tooth correction.  Many physical and aesthetic problems can be improved with dental veneers.

What Is a Dental Veneer?

Dental veneers are a permanent correction of tooth imperfections, whether it is a stain, a chip, an unproportionate size or other aesthetic problem.  Dentists use thin porcelain or a resin composite material to cover the front of a tooth held in place with dental cement.

Because porcelain veneers are permanent and must be replaced if they are damaged, it is important to know the pros and the cons before you commit to them.

The Pros

• Whiten Your Smile

If you can’t live without your morning cup of coffee, smoke cigarettes for years before quitting or enjoy red wine with a nice meal, years of enjoying these drinks and habits will impact the color of your teeth.  Highly pigmented foods and drinks will eventually lead to more yellow or even brown teeth.  Once you have stained your teeth, you can address them with an at home whitening kit or with an whitening treatment appointment with the dentist.  If you continue the habits after you have whitened your teeth, you will have to repeat the whitening treatment in the future.  Porcelain veneers are a way to permanently whiten your teeth and porcelain is stain resistant.  You will not have to address future discoloration or worry about whitening treatments for your veneers.

• Address Minor Cosmetic Issues

If you have accidentally chipped your tooth while eating crunchy food or from a fall, veneers can restore your tooth to its original shape.  In fact, veneers can change chipped teeth, cracked  teeth, gaps between teeth, minor misaligned teeth and, as previously mentioned, discolored teeth.  Because the front of your teeth are changed with the application of veneers, the minor flaws can be corrected without having to change the position of your teeth.  Veneers do not replace orthodontic braces or retainers, but the dentist may recommend veneers over a referral to an orthodontist.  Once the veneer is in place, only you and the dentist will know what lies behind the thin layer of porcelain.

• Replace Compromised Enamel

The enamel on the surface of your teeth is one of the hardest materials in your body but it can be damaged.  Over time, your enamel can wear away from aggressive brushing, acidic foods and drinks, and stomach acid and once the enamel is gone you can’t grow more.  If your enamel has worn away, veneers are a great way to protect your teeth by replacing the enamel.

The Cons

• Price Tag

Veneers made from porcelain are more expensive than veneers from other materials.  The final price is determined by the number of teeth you are restoring, where the dentist’s office is, and the experience of the dentist.  Veneers are rarely covered by dental insurance as they are typically considered cosmetic so they are expensive for most budgets.

• Sensitive Teeth

After the veneers are in place, some people notice sensitivity to hot and cold temperatures more so than before the veneers.  Many people note their tooth sensitivity improves eventually, but it can be managed with tooth sensitivity products if it does not.

• Permanent

In order for the porcelain veneer to be cemented in place, the dentist will need to shave down the enamel of your tooth.  Once the enamel is removed, the tooth will always need a veneer.  The irreversible procedure will need to be maintained once you commit to it.

More on Veneers : What is the Porcelain Veneers Procedure?