Tooth Veneer
Teeth veneers are custom-made porcelain shells. The dentist will glue these shells to the front surfaces of teeth to improve your smile and protect your front teeth from breaking.
What are tooth veneers?
Dental veneers are a thin dental material that we glue to the front of teeth to improve the appearance. This will improve the shape of each tooth, resulting in a more beautiful smile. These are generally made using porcelain and mainly used on front teeth.
Reasons to have tooth veneer:
- cover a chipped tooth
- mask a discoloured tooth
- cover a discoloured filling
- correct an abnormally shaped tooth
- close the spaces in between teeth
Procedures for making a dental veneer:
The dentist will assess your teeth and gums. If you have gum disease you have to treat the gum disease first. Then impressions of your teeth are taken and sent to the lab to make plaster models. The dentist will use the models to analyse and decide what shape of dental veneer to make.
Sometimes the dentist may reshape the gum using a soft tissue laser. This provides symmetry of the gum shape and a beautiful smile. Once the gum heals, the dental professional prepares the teeth. This involves taking off a thin layer of enamel on the front surface of the tooth. A final impression is then taken and sent to the lab to make the veneer.
After we receive the porcelain veneer from the lab, our dentists, Dr Mohan and Dr Turk will place it on your tooth and check the colour, shape and fit. Once they are happy with the shape and colour, they cement the teeth veneer permanently on the tooth. Our Bendigo dentist will give you instructions on how to maintain and care for your porcelain veneer.
Are there alternatives to porcelain veneers?
Yes. We can also make composite veneers. We make these from tooth coloured filling material.
The advantages are:
– Composite veneers are cheaper than porcelain veneers.
– When compared with porcelain veneers, we need to remove less tooth structure to make composite veneers.
The disadvantages are:
– They will become discoloured and stained over time and may require repair and repolishing. This will incur extra costs.- Chips and breaks are more common so repairs may be required every 2-3 years.
If you have any queries or need further information, please see one of our dentists at Bendigo Dental.