What is a porcelain veneer?
What happens during the procedure?
Patients need three appointments for the entire procedure: diagnosis and treatment planning, preparation, and bonding. Diagnosis and treatment planning: It's critical that you take an active role in the smile design. Spend time in the decision-making and planning of the smile. Understand the corrective limitations of the procedure. Have more than one consultation, if necessary, to feel comfortable that we understands your objectives.
Preparation of teeth: This appointment will take from one to two hours. To prepare the teeth for the porcelain veneers, the teeth are lightly buffed to allow for the small added thickness of the veneer. Usually, about a half a millimetre of the tooth is removed, which may require a local anaesthetic. At this appointment, a mould is taken of the teeth, which is sent to the laboratory for the fabrication of the veneers. This can take about one to two weeks. If the teeth are too unsightly a temporary veneer can be placed, at an additional cost.
Bonding of veneers: This appointment will take about one or two hours. First, we place the veneers with water or glycerine on the teeth to check their fit and get a sense of the shade or color. While the veneers are resting on your teeth, view the esthetic results, and pay particular attention to the color. At this point, the color of the veneers can still be adjusted with the shade of the cement to be used. The color cannot be altered after veneers are cemented.
How about maintenance?
Have realistic expectations
| Before | After aesthetic enhancement |
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| Before | After aesthetic enhancement without braces with zirconia-porcelain crowns |
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| Moderate loss of tooth structure due to tooth grinding | Restoration with porcelain crowns & veneers |
Severe loss of tooth structure due to tooth grinding |
Restoration with porcelain crowns & veneers, bleaching of teeth in the lower jaw |
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