Veneers are one of the most economical, accessible, and conservative solutions to resolve a wide range of cosmetic dentistry concerns. Veneers can cover and hide a wide variety and combination of cosmetic flaws affecting one or many teeth or one or both jaws in a single step. Those flaws that can be hidden by veneers include:
- Discoloured and stained teeth
- Teeth with inconsistent sizes
- Crooked teeth
- Inconsistently spaced teeth
- Teeth that are worn and chipped
Porcelain veneers are small and thin shell-like pieces of material. Traditionally, porcelain veneers in Walden have been bonded to your teeth after the teeth have been prepared to receive that veneer. That preparation involves removing a thin layer of the enamel layer on your tooth to avoid adding any thickness or bulk to the tooth. By doing so, your dentist in Walden will ensure that the teeth — as covered by the veneers — look completely natural. Ongoing innovations in dental materials and technologies now make a tweak on those traditional materials available: prepless veneers.
What are prepless veneers?
Prepless veneers serve the same function as traditional materials and work in the same way, with one significant exception. Placement of prepless veneers on your teeth does not require that any enamel be removed from your underlying tooth or teeth. One disadvantage of traditional veneers — being that enamel must be removed to accommodate a veneer, which modification is permanent — is eliminated by the development of prepless veneers. Two common brands of prepless veneers are DURAthin and Lumineers.
- There are four criteria that need to be met to confirm you’re a good candidate for prepless veneers. To confirm that you meet these criteria, you should discuss them with a dentist in Walden:
- Your teeth are slightly retroclined to leave enough room for the placement of the veneer
- Any discolouration is not so severe that it can not be covered
- The shape of your teeth allow sufficient space between them
- There is sufficient room on the biting surface of your teeth to provide sufficient bite strength and an attractive final result
How durable are prepless veneers?
Thin as traditional veneers are, they have proven to be a durable and long-lasting solution for cosmetic dentistry concerns as long as placed properly, bonded securely, and maintained conscientiously. Prepless veneers are no different and no less durable. The placement of veneers on a tooth actually lends some strength to that tooth, and those veneers will last for many years as long as you care for your underlying tooth and nearby gums properly and avoid certain bad habits.
The importance of caring for your underlying tooth and gums is paramount. The integrity of your veneers depends a great deal on the health of the tooth under it and the gums around it. If that tooth becomes decayed or infected for any reason, the structure on which the veneer (whatever kind of veneer) relies for its very presence will be lost.
There are three bad habits that can threaten the durability and shorten the lifespan of veneers, traditional or prepless. To ruin your veneers, take the following three steps either individually or — even worse still! — in combination:
- Clench your jaws and gnash your teeth while you sleep without wearing a nightguard to address your sleep bruxism
- Chew hard objects such as your fingernails, ice, and pencils
- Use your teeth like wrenches, pliers, scissors, and grips to twist, pry, cut, tear, and hold foreign objects
To find out if veneers — prepless or otherwise — are the right tool to accomplish your cosmetic dentistry goals, contact a dentist in Walden to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of getting either option for porcelain veneers near you.