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What Are Dental Veneers & How Long Do They Last?

Your smile is your precious asset, and whether we like it or not, its aesthetics play a crucial role in our social and professional lives. With the current advancements in dentistry, it is almost impossible not to have a beautiful and healthy smile. Everyone deserves a dazzling set of teeth that amaze others during encounters and make the first impression memorable. 

Dental veneers are a great and minimally invasive way to enhance your smile. Are veneers the right solution for your dental needs? 

Dental Veneers: Understanding Teeth Veneers

Dental veneers are custom-made shells imitating your real teeth, and their role is to cover the front of your existing dentition to create a natural-looking and beautiful smile. Cosmetic treatment has been acknowledged as one of the best long-lasting solutions to tooth defects. Dental veneers look and feel exceptionally real, thanks to the materials used in crafting the coverings. Porcelain veneers are especially favorable as they create opacity similar to your natural teeth. 

Veneers create spectacular effects despite little interference in the hard tissues of your teeth. Once cemented, the veneers will smoothly harmonize with your natural teeth without leaving any traces of dental treatment. Dental veneers are made in various shades of white, allowing you and your dentist to choose the color that best matches your remaining teeth. 

Let’s take a look at the types of veneers currently available:

Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain veneers are a fine layer of porcelain material whose role is to cover the front surface of your teeth. The shells are custom-made for shape, size, and shade to contrive the most natural-looking effect with cosmetic and restorative outcomes in mind. Adhesively placed porcelain veneers will meet the expectations of the most demanding patients. They protect the hard tissues of the tooth and simultaneously aesthetically change the appearance of teeth affected by decay, damaged by clenching, traumatized, and incorrectly growing teeth. This form of treatment often replaces tooth grinding for crowns. Here are some of the advantages of porcelain veneers:

  • Retaining a durable color and gloss without leaving stains
  • Unlimited possibilities for individual characteristics
  • Little preparation of hard tooth tissues
  • Exceptional marginal tightness
  • High abrasion resistance
  • Beautiful aesthetic effect
  • Compatible with periodontal tissues
  • Significant improvement in the well-being of patients after treatment
  • Bright and dazzling smile for many years

Composite Resin Veneers

A composite resin veneer is nothing more than a flake of composite material made specifically for the patient’s needs by a dental technology laboratory or directly by your dentist during a visit. Similarly to porcelain veneers, their primary purpose is to improve the shape, size, and color of the patient’s tooth or teeth. Composite resin veneers will enhance the appearance of your smile. 

Advantages And Disadvantages of Composite Resin Veneers 

When making decisions that affect our health and budget, we should always create a balance sheet of profits and losses. This includes knowing the advantages and disadvantages of dental treatments, such as individual prosthetic solutions we can choose from. We will make that list for you:

Advantages of composite resin veneers include:

  • Excellent aesthetics 
  • Moderate cost
  • Easy to repair – composite material is easy to build up, add, correct, and polish.
  • Enamel-like hardness, which does not abrade opposing teeth
  • Implementation during one visit is possible (direct veneers without dental laboratory)

Disadvantages of composite resin veneers include:

  • Composite is less durable than porcelain.
  • The tendency for plaque to build up at the composite-tooth interface or on the composite itself
  • Over time, the veneer may discolor, and thus we need to replace it with a new one.

Composite Resin Veneers Versus Porcelain Veneers

In most clinical cases, porcelain veneers perform better than composite veneers. Porcelain veneers are more durable and more resistant mechanically and aesthetically. Porcelain material is also more biocompatible and more resistant to the deposition of plaque. Many patients also notice that porcelain veneers are more efficient as compared to composite resin veneers since they effectively rebuild teeth for longer than stain-prone composite materials. If plaque accumulates on the resin veneers, it can compromise the health of your existing teeth by leading to decay behind the composite material. 

Understanding The Procedure

Placing dental veneers is a relatively simple procedure involving little preparation. The procedure requires some form of intervention – it is irreversible since your dentist will need to prepare your teeth for the procedure, and that includes roughing the enamel and reshaping the surface of your teeth. However, compared to other restorative or cosmetic procedures, dental veneers do not impact your natural teeth enormously. 

As with any dental procedure that aims to cosmetically rejuvenate your dentition, you and your dentist should assess your overall oral health and apply any necessary treatment before moving on to veneers. Your oral health always comes first and any issues can compromise the success of the cosmetic procedure. 

Your initial consultation should involve some opening up to your dentist about insecurities that stem from your imperfect smile. It is important for your dentist to understand your concerns and possibly straighten out certain misconceptions. Your dentist will guide you through the process, establish realistic goals regarding your smile, and estimate the cost of the entire procedure. They might recommend teeth whitening before placing veneers. 

How Long Do Dental Veneers Last?

Unfortunately, veneers do not last forever. Regular maintenance in a form of dental checkups, preventative oral care and proper hygiene will contribute to the longevity of your dental veneers. Modern dentistry offers veneers that will last up to 15 years, with average life span between 7 and 10 years. The material used for dental veneers will also impact the durability of the restorations. 

Who Should Not Get Dental Veneers?

Some patients do not qualify for the procedure, including those with active dental issues, such as impending root canals or periodontal disease, severe tooth decay, and other unaddressed oral concerns. Patients who have existing dental restorations might be poor candidates for veneers, or those that have little remaining tooth structure – those might require crowns. 

Get Your Veneers At DC Dental

Dental veneers, as other cosmetic restorations, require craftsmanship, knowledge, and experience – all of which we offer here at your neighborhood dental practice. DC Dental cares about your health and well-being, which is why we are dedicated to restoring your smile in the most effective manner possible. Call us today to schedule your initial consultation. 

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