Get the Facts About Dental Veneers and How They Are Used

What are dental veneers?

Dental veneers are some of the most versatile tools we have when it comes to correcting defects in your teeth. Dental veneers, also known as ceramic or porcelain veneers, are extremely thin pieces of porcelain that we use to replace the damaged enamel on your teeth. The reason dental veneers are so effective is their thinness. Being paper thin, these veneers take on many of the same qualities as naturally occurring enamel. They are extremely hard, which gives you a long-term solution when your enamel has become damaged. They are also extremely brittle, just like enamel, and so you will need to protect your teeth the same way you would protect natural teeth. Being extremely malleable, veneers can be molded to fix a variety of problems with the teeth.

Do dental veneers work for everyone?

Dental veneers are an extremely versatile solution, and in most cases can be used by anyone. For us to make sure that you are an excellent candidate for dental veneers, we will schedule an initial consultation and also a first examination. During your examination, we will make sure that your mouth is in excellent condition and primed to replace your enamel with the veneers. If we find any issues that might become a problem later on in the process, we will work on solutions so that your dental veneers placement is seamless. On rare occasions, during this initial examination, we will find that there are people who cannot get dental veneers and for them we will explore other potential solutions to damaged teeth.

How are dental veneers attached?

As soon as we know that you are an excellent candidate to receive dental veneers, we can proceed to the next step. This step involves selecting the color and shade that you want for your veneers. We will have your veneers custom made to fit your needs, including the shade that you choose from.  That information will along with an impression of your teeth will be sent to a dental lab for the final veneers to be created.  In the meantime, we will prepare your tooth by removing a portion of your enamel to make sure that the veneers fit flat against the rest of your tooth. Typically this is only a few millimeters but it allows the veneer to fit flush with the tooth.  We will then place a temporary veneer on top of it.

Once we have the permanent veneers, we will fit them to your tooth. After making sure that the color is right, we will make any slight adjustments so that the veneer fits the tooth perfectly. We will also check to make sure that your bite is not affected, and once all the elements are perfectly in sync we will cement the dental veneers to your teeth.

What problems do dental veneers fix?

Dental veneers can fix a whole range of challenges. They are an extremely durable and versatile solution. We use them extensively to fix minor breaks, cracks, and chips in teeth. It is often preferable to use veneers over other procedures like dental crowns because veneers only require a small portion of your enamel to be removed. Veneers are also used for cosmetic fixes like making your teeth whiter, straightening them, and correcting minor bite and placement issues.

Sedation Dentist  >  Smile Makeover

General Dentistry Visits Are Helpful for Your Oral Health: Learn Why

Visits to our general dentistry office are the one that we often describe as routine visits. Typically these are scheduled six months apart so that we can keep a careful watch on your oral health and ensure that you do not have any unforeseen problems with your mouth. Luckily there is a growing segment of educated patients that see the importance of these visits, and we can get them scheduled easily. The question about why these visits are so important is actually an easy one to answer. Your mouth, teeth, and gums should be inspected every six months because they are the first step in your digestive process. Everything that goes in the mouth, or occurs naturally in the mouth, ultimately will end up in your digestive system and could, therefore, end up causing other health problems if an oral infection exists. Keeping your teeth and gums in perfect health is a good way to ensure that the rest of your body also has limited exposure to risks like oral infections.
 
Ironically the routine that we put you through when you come in for these visits are the very things that cause some patients to question if they really need to see their general dentist once every six months. From an outside perspective, we always seem to do the same things but there are important reasons why. First we will clean your teeth, which includes a polishing so that they are gleaming white. During the cleaning process, we will remove excess plaque from the teeth and the gums themselves. This helps to reduce the potential of erosion and decay. Next you may receive a fluoride treatment if necessary. Then the dentist will perform an oral examination. During this examination, we are looking for soft spots that may become cavities in the future and also active cavities that need to be filled. Sometimes x-rays may be in order to check on the inside of the tooth, the root, and the jawbone.

Finally, we will send you home with a brand new toothbrush and floss. Handing you, a toothbrush and floss is one of those subtle things that we do to keep your oral health in good condition. We know that most people forget to change their toothbrush once every six months, as is recommended. So when you come to our general dentistry office to get an examination we hand you a toothbrush as a reminder that the time has come to throw away the old one and replace it. We do not expect you to, necessarily, use the one we provide as long as you replace the old toothbrush at home.

Another thing we do but do not talk about, is give you a screening for oral cancer when we are examining your mouth. Oral cancer is a deadly disease that can, at times, go unnoticed. In order to combat this, we have made it a practice to examine your mouth, looking for signs of oral cancer every time you come in for a routine well visit. While your physician may be able to give you similar exam, when you visit our general dentistry office once every six months it is easier because nobody knows your teeth better than we do.

Teeth Whitening  >  Dental Restorations