Your smile is important to you. Over the years, your teeth may become dull or dingy and may even suffer from various traumas that affect your smile. Dr. White is dedicated to helping you restore your smile to its natural brilliance. One of the main tools at his disposal is the porcelain veneer, a ceramic tooth used for many cosmetic dentistry purposes.
What are Porcelain Veneers?
Veneers are a thin porcelain laminate that are bonded to your teeth, providing a new appearance for your smile. To apply them, Dr. White prepares the tooth surface by scoring the tooth enamel to provide more surface area for the veneer. The porcelain is translucent, mimicking the quality of natural tooth enamel. The veneer is non-porous and resists staining.
What dental issues can Porcelain Veneers repair?
There are many uses for porcelain veneers, including:
- Tooth Whitening – If you just have one discolored tooth in the smile line, the porcelain veneer can easily be matched to the color of the surrounding teeth so that it does not stand out when you smile.
- Straightening crooked teeth – For teeth that do not need major realignment, veneers can be used.
- Closing gaps between teeth – The porcelain can be built up to give more volume to fill in each side of a gap between teeth.
- Covering pitted or cracked teeth – The new surface of a veneer will help protect the tooth from decay and can act as a splint for a damaged tooth.
Are Porcelain Veneers painful?
Only a small amount of tooth enamel is removed from the tooth surface to allow the adhesive to stick. The process of preparing the teeth is not.
How long does the procedure take?
In some offices, the entire procedure may take two office visits, but at White Smile Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, everything can usually be done in two.
How long do Porcelain Veneers last?
When well taken care of, porcelain veneers can last for the rest of your life. Should one be damaged, however, it is a fairly simple process to replace it. Unlike your natural teeth, dental veneers are not subject to staining. The veneers should not be used to chew especially hard foods, open bottle caps, or cracking nuts.
To get more answers to your questions about porcelain veneers, please contact Tulsa, Oklahoma cosmetic dentist, Dr. Steven V. White for an initial consultation.
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