Dental veneers or tooth veneers were first invented in 1928 and they’ve become a very popular dental solution since! Let’s take a closer look at how veneers work and what benefits they can bring to your mouth and your smile.
What Are Veneers?
Veneers are extremely thin ‘shells’ that are placed over the front of your teeth to change or improve the colour, shape, length or size of your teeth.
They are essentially used to mask teeth that are either stained or discoloured or teeth that are crooked, malformed, chipped or spread unevenly throughout the mouth. If you have any of these of problems, veneers could be a great solution for you.
Like many things dental, veneers are tailored and created specifically to fit your teeth and mouth. They can be made of porcelain, ceramic or a composite resin and they are designed to bring a natural, white colour to your teeth and smile. Veneers are generally very comfortable and won’t change the performance of your teeth.
The Veneer Procedure
The procedure for creating and applying your veneers is very straightforward and simple:
- First, we inspect your teeth, gums and mouth to make sure they are healthy and not in need of any dental work; during this time, we also take a few x-rays
- Next, we discuss your reasons for wanting veneers and have a look at which teeth you would ideally like veneers for
- If you decide to move forward, we then “trim” some of the enamel from the surface of your tooth (the same amount that will be replaced by the veneer) and make a model or ‘mock up’ of your veneers for you to trial; this is to ensure the veneers will be suited to your specific teeth
- Once the veneer models are found to be suitable, your real veneers are then made by a qualified dental technician and sent to us ready for fitting
- Our experienced dentists will then place the veneer on your tooth using a temporary agent; we do this so that we can make sure the veneer is exactly right in terms of shape, size and colour before we attached it permanently
- We then polish and buff your tooth and bond the veneer to it using a specialised dental bonding cement
- Once all of your veneers are fitted permanently, the process is complete!
You’ll need to return for a follow-up appointment so that we can check that your veneers are functioning properly and determine how well your teeth and gums are responding to the treatment. The majority of veneer treatments are very successful.
Further Tips to Help With Your Veneer Decision
- Veneers can be much easier to fix than a crown and they also usually involve less shaping and modelling
- Veneers will generally last between 5 and 10 years; after this time, you can easily have them replaced
- If you want to combine your veneer procedure with a teeth whitening procedure, you’ll need to carry out your teeth whitening process first, since the colour of veneers can’t be altered once they are cemented to your teeth
- Veneers don’t prevent your teeth from infection or decay, so you’ll still need to keep your teeth and gums clean and visit your dentist for regular checkups
Do you want to improve the look and feel of your teeth? Book an appointment at Somerset Dental Care today and we’ll discuss whether a veneer solution may be right for you!
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