Dental veneers are a cosmetic dental procedure which can be used to repair chipped teeth or close small gaps, where braces are considered unsuitable. They can also help to improve the shape, position or colour of teeth, you could compare them to have a fake nail on your fingertip.
What Are Dental Veneers Made From?
They are made from a thin layer of dental porcelain and placed over the front-facing surface of the tooth. The procedure has been likened to false nails being stuck on top of real nails. If well maintained once fitted a veneer should last for many years, but just like normal teeth, they can be broken or chipped.
What Are The Advantages Of Dental Veneers?
Veneers can be a less damaging way to repair small cracks and chips than crowns, which require large parts of the tooth to be removed but will give better results than a composite filling which do not provide a strong enough restoration for chipped corners.
Procedure To Get Tooth/Dental Veneers
- Diagnosis & Treatment Planning
- Preparation of Tooth For Dental Veneer
- Bonding The Tooth & Dental Veneer
This first stage involves active participation between you and your dentist. You can explain to your dentist the result that you are trying to achieve and you can ask any questions you might have concerning the procedure. At this appointment, your dentist will examine your teeth and gums to make sure dental veneers are appropriate and discuss what the procedure will involve and some of its limitations. He or she also may take X-rays and possibly make impressions of your mouth and teeth.
In order to prepare a tooth for a veneer, a small amount of enamel from the tooth surface is removed, which is about the same thickness as the veneer which will be added. Your dentist will then take and impression or mould of your teeth. These moulds are sent to a dental laboratory, which constructs your veneer. It usually takes about two weeks for the laboratory to make the veneers and send them back to your dentist.
A glue cement is applied to the veneer, which is then placed on your tooth. Once the veneer is placed in the correct position on your tooth, your dentist will apply a special light directly onto the veneer which activates chemicals in the cement causing it to harden very quickly. The final steps involve removing any excess cement, evaluating your bite and making final adjustments as necessary.