Porcelain veneers are a cosmetic dentistry option for correcting severe intrinsic staining or cracks or chips on the tooth's surface. The wafer thin veneer is custom-made in a lab then bonded onto the front of your tooth using a special cement that both adheres the veneer and helps make the porcelain material stronger.
Dental crowns and resin dental bonds can both treat similar problems as veneers. But veneers have a couple of clear advantages over these other solutions.
Unlike Dental Crowns, Veneers Don't Trim Away a Lot of Tooth
Any dental appliance that needs to be bonded onto a tooth will require some tooth filing using dental tiles. The filing is necessary to both reduce the bulk of the tooth so the appliance doesn't make the tooth overly wide and to improve the bonding ability of the cement to the tooth. A veneer requires less dental trimming than a dental crown because of where each appliance is placed.
A veneer only covers the front side of the tooth to essentially offer a new storefront for that tooth. A dental crown fits down over the entire natural crown, which means that a crown can cover damage on all sides of the tooth but also means the crown needs all four sides of the tooth to be filed down to support the bonding.
If your natural tooth is relatively healthy beyond the surface crack or chipping damage, you might not want to lose tooth material on all sides just to have a dental crown. A veneer would allow you to keep most of your natural tooth while still fixing the cosmetic problems.
Unlike Bonds, Veneers Resist Dental Staining and Look More Natural
Porcelain veneers have a couple of advantages over the resin material that makes up dental bonds. If you have stain-prone teeth, you might want to stick with veneers due to porcelain having a stain-resistant nature. Resin can stain as much as natural teeth but can't be whitened so you would need to have the bond replaced once the staining became noticeable.
Veneers also offer a more natural look than the bonds. That's because porcelain has a natural translucency that mimics the translucency of a natural tooth. Resin has a more opaque look that can make the bond look more obviously fake particularly in certain lighting.
The natural look continues on to the fact that veneers are custom fabricated to best fit your tooth and your mouth's cosmetic appearance. Resin bonds are molded directly onto the tooth in the dentist's office for a tight but less precise and crafted fit.
Share4 August 2016
Halloween is a holiday that my children love, and telling them they can't go door-to-door collecting candy would break their hearts. This led me to allowing them to collect candy on the holiday, then rationing it out to them every day instead of letting them gobble it up in just a few days. I always thought this was better for them, but my dentist told me this could be the reason why their February dental check-ups were always their worst ones. Daily candy consumption was taking a toll on their teeth. I started a new tradition of letting them indulge for two days, then giving them the option to swap the rest with me in exchange for a new toy. They never pass on the opportunity for a new toy. I created this blog to encourage other parents find similar tactics to keep their children's teeth healthy after Halloween.