What are veneers?
Do veneers damage your teeth?
How much do teeth veneers cost?
Are veneers permanent?
Are veneers worth it?
Is it smart to get veneers?
Who should not get veneers?
How do I find the best cosmetic dental near me?
There are hundreds of questions surrounding veneer’s, teeth whitening, and cosmetic dentistry. Porcelain veneers are dental crowns that are bonded to the front of your teeth by a cosmetic dentist. Unless the patients’ teeth are already small, the teeth are shaved down slightly to make room for the porcelain and the veneer’s bonded on to create the perfect tooth. Veneers were originally made popular by celebrity veneers but are now widely used to fix cosmetic dental issues. So why would you need a veneer? When you are unhappy with the looks of your teeth and when braces, Invisalign, and teeth whitening won’t do enough to make you happy with the results.
Veneers have become so popular because the best cosmetic dentists are able to make the veneer whatever shape, color, and texture that matches your face and personality best. With traditional techniques or braces, teeth whitening, and composite bonding there were limitations that can usually be overcome with veneers. It is important to find the best cosmetic dentist near you that you can find. Look at their before and after veneer photos and when you meet with the dentist make sure they understand which parts of your smile bother you the most so that you know they understand your desired result. Your cosmetic dentist will work with you and their master ceramist to create the smile that you want. Some patients want the “celebrity veneers” smile where they are as white as possible, while other patients don’t even want people to be able to tell that they have veneers and want the veneers to look as natural as possible. Both options are possible so it is important to find a cosmetic dentist that you can trust and that understands the results that you want.
Patients often come into my Huntington Beach office asking if veneers are worth it and if I think they should get veneers. My answer is the same every time, which is that only if their current smile bothers them that much. Veneers cost between $500-$4000 per tooth and most patients need anywhere from 8-22 veneers depending on their current teeth and their desired result. Some patients have crooked, stained, and broken teeth but their teeth don’t bother them much; so, for these patients, I don’t recommend veneers. Other patients have beautiful smiles but there are subtle things that the patient doesn’t like, and it significantly bothers them. If a beautiful, flawless, smile will improve your quality of life, if it will make you smile more, then veneers are worth it. If not, then it probably isn’t worth your time and money.
The last important consideration for cosmetic porcelain veneers is do veneers affect your health. Do veneers destroy your teeth and can veneers cause problems? The porcelain for a veneer needs to be around 0.5mm thick for it to be strong enough to work in your mouth. In certain situations, the patients’ teeth are going to be made larger with the veneers, so their teeth don’t need to be reduced at all in what we call no-prep veneers. Sometimes a patient can go through a series of treatment with braces or Invisalign that can position their teeth in a way the cosmetic dentist can give them veneers without touching their teeth. In most cases, however, the teeth do need to be shaved down .3-.5mm to make room for the porcelain. When this is done the dentist should make sure to not go through the patients’ enamel, which is the strong and hard outer layer of the tooth. As long as the dentist stays in this hard outer layer, the health of the tooth will not be compromised. The veneer is permanent, meaning that it cannot be taken off again, so the veneer will now act as the new outermost layer of your tooth, protecting everything underneath it. Veneers are not permanent in that they will last forever, because they can break and they can fall off, but they are permanent in that you will never be able to undo the process. It is important to not rush into getting veneers and to first make sure you know exactly what it is you want and make sure you find the best veneer dentist for you before getting started.
To learn more about selecting the right dentist in Huntington Beach for cosmetic veneers, schedule a consultation with Jason Callers, DDS today!
