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Dental Veneers
 Veneers are a great way to improve smiles without excessively affecting the teeth involved. When we speak about veneers we are usually talking about a thin layer or Porcelain bonded to the front surface of on or many teeth. While other materials can be used, such as composite resins used for tooth coloured fillings (people often refer to this as "bonding"), porcelain is most often recommended for its beauty and life like appearance.
Why veneers?
Porcelain veneers can be used to correct many cosmetic and functional problems often with little or no tooth structure ( ie enamel) removal.
Porcelain Veneers can be used to:
- change the colour of teeth
- lengthen teeth that are too short
- change the shape of teeth
- close spaces between teeth
- correct the appearance of teeth that are out of position
- repair chipped teeth
Advantages of Porcelain Veneers
When indicated, porcelain veneers offer advantages over other types of restorations like crowns or composite resin "fillings":
- Little or no tooth structure (enamel) needs to be removed unlike a crown
- in many cases no anesthetic is needed ("freezing")
- improvements in colour, shape, position of your teeth is possible
- younger looking smile
- more durable and life like appearance than composite resin fillings
- when bonded in place, veneers actually strengthen the teeth!
Disadvantages of Porcelain Veneers
While a great way to improve your smile and restore a youthful smile there are contraindications veneers:
- as with any restoration, they do not last forever and will need to be replaced in the future. Average life span is about 10 years
- while it is a small amount, often some enamel needs to be removed.
What about no prep veneers?
I'm sure you've heard about no prep veneers. They are often advertised with various brand names. There isn't anything special about the brand, all good labs can make good veneers. The technique of a no prep veneer has been around since the 1980's and has come back in vogue recently, mostly as a marketing ploy in my opinion. Veneers have to be planned to produce teeth in the position that will allow proper speech and smile. Sometimes the teeth are too small and /or not in proper alignment, meaning more needs to be added to bring the teeth to the right place. So we don't need to remove tooth structure to achieve the results we want. No Prep is the type we need to make. But if the teeth are too prominent or long, we need to remove tooth structure to bring the teeth into the right position for a great smile and ability to speak properly, so a dentist needs to "prep" the tooth.
That's it. That's how we decide if a no prep type veneer is right for your individual smile. |
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1515 Rebecca Street
Suite 220 (Hopedale Shopping Mall - second floor)
Oakville, Ontario |
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