What are dental veneers?

Are porcelain dental veneers the right choice for you?

Without seeing you, no cosmetic dentist can say for sure. This is why we offer the FREE cosmetic consult, but most likely if you are wishing to improve your smile at least some teeth will have veneers. Even people missing some front teeth may end up with veneers on the teeth that are not missing. The first step to any veneer consult will always be to ensure that your mouth is clear of infection and your mouth, teeth, and gums are healthy.

Dental veneer vs crown

This will depend primarily on how much tooth destruction you already have.  If there are large fillings then you may need a crown.  If there is an existing crown that needs replacing, then a dental veneer is impossible and you must have a crown.  Most well trained cosmetic dentists would never intentionally remove more enamel than needed as the success rate of a dental veneer is heavily dependent on how much enamel is left (source).  Unless a crown is already existing, Dr. Bauer doesn’t do traditional crowns for esthetics.  If we must do a crown due to old fillings, we will do a 3/4 crown or an extended veneer.  Basically we remove as little as we must to ensure the new veneer will seat.

Below is a case with veneers and crowns together.  This one was interesting because she originally wanted to save her front two natural teeth and although the result of that looked excellent she loved the veneers so much she opted to treat the front two as well.  Case is here.

What about missing teeth that need a bridge?  Can veneers still be made?

Some veneer cases will include not just dental crowns but dental bridges as well.  In the smile design shown below, three front teeth are actually missing.  We completed the smile design with a combination of dental crowns, dental bridges, and dental veneers.

Dental veneer vs bonding

Bonding can be a great option for some people.  Some examples of bonded composite veneers can be found here.  I will often use this when only one or two teeth are needed to be improved.  I have done this with more teeth but 4 teeth is usually the limit.  The amount of time it takes to do this well, starts to become very tiring for the patient.

Mixing dental crowns, porcelain veneers, and composite veneers

Sometimes there is a need or a reason to use both porcelain and composite veneers. The case below has porcelain veneers, composite veneers and dental crowns. The combination looks like the same material on all the teeth.

Prepless or no-prep veneers?

 Most likely it’s really minimal prep veneers

True prepless veneer cases are extremely rare if you want something that looks nice.  I’ll typically do at least a minor adjustment somewhere to improve the function and look of your veneers. This was an example of a minimal prep veneer.

What about worn down or ground down teeth?

Dental veneers or crowns are a great solution for teeth worn down from grinding. Depending on the severity of the worn down teeth we will do a full crown or a veneer. However, to you the difference in what we call it is irrelevant. The only issue we have to ensure we get right is the wear patterns.

Dental veneers for small teeth are a great option.

Peg laterals or baby teeth that never fall out are ideal for veneers.

Dental veneers for just the front two teeth?

We can do dental veneers or crowns on as few or many teeth as you want. Typically if someone is looking at just one veneer or two veneers they have an issue that bonding is not taking care of. Usually the issue is that the dental bonding keeps breaking. The goal with these veneers is not to change the look of the smile but to make the veneers look natural and as if they fit the existing other natural teeth.

How important is the dental lab technician when fabricating your dental veneers?

While most would argue that creating a beautiful dental veneer is a collaborative process, we believe the dental technician is the true artist.  We feel the dentist is preparing the canvas, but the technician is the one creating the art.  The job of the cosmetic dentist is to prepare the teeth so that the technician is capable of providing a beautiful result and judging the quality of the work the technician provides.  Just like any form of art, not all who pick up the brush will have the same result.  Years of careful and meticulous training and attention to detail are important but there is some internal aspect that allows some individuals to be exceptional.

Finding the exceptional, artistic individuals is our job.  We have spent a lot of time scouring the country looking for just the right people to work with.  The thing we think separates our work from many other less lifelike veneers is the secondary and tertiary anatomy.  These aren’t captured well in most photos but photos taken from different angles and different lighting can capture it.

What are the steps to get your dental veneers? What is the process?

First off, you will always have something that will look nice.  Never during your treatment will you be toothless or have gaps or missing areas. There are 3-5 steps to getting your veneers.

Step 1a – Prior to receiving your dental veneers you can see multiple versions of your new smile with us.  We will need to take impressions and pictures of your teeth to do step 1 so step 1 may or may not take two visits. For instance, we can make a computer image of your new smile or you can try on temporary plastic versions.

Step 1b – You can wear un-cemented temporary versions of your veneers for a few weeks, like these

We call these a Trial Smile and it is a great way to ensure everyone is on the same page before we go too far.

Next is when we actually must prepare the teeth for the veneers.

Step 2 – You will have bonded temporary dental veneers to try out while the lab is working on making your final ones. You will wear these for 3-4 weeks. Check out our temporary dental veneers page to see what temps look like.

Step 3 – The last step is to try in the final veneers.  We take photos and blow them up on my computer monitor and several key people in our office critique them.  It is common for you to love your dental veneers as soon as tried on and want to keep them.  However, we tell all our patients that Dr. Bauer makes the final decision as to whether they are perfect yet or they must go back to have some minor changes made.  About half the time there are some minor tweaks that Dr. Bauer wants made.  After both you and Dr. Bauer have discussed all the fine tuning that you want and we see and have fixed it all we bond your veneers in.

Finally, you are done and the last step is just tweaking and minor adjustments.

Step 4 – Follow up and fine tuning.  Once the veneers are seated we take an impression to make you a night guard to protect your smile investment.  We have you return in a week or two and will do any minor adjustments to the bite at that time.

Not everyone will need all of these steps.  It will vary based on what your smile currently looks like and what you want it to look like.  To give you an idea, here are two different examples of how you can do a “trial smile” before getting your final veneers.

How long does a dental veneer last?

If we can prepare veneer in all enamel, the survival rate at 10 years is 95% source.   To find out how long your dental veneer might last check out my blog.

How much do Wheaton dental veneers cost?

Our fee for a porcelain dental veneer is around $2000 per tooth (2020).  If you are doing less than 8 teeth, then we also charge $1,000 set up fee. Basically if you do more teeth the per tooth cost drops.

We include any fillings or decay removal that we need to do beforehand to ensure the tooth is ready for the veneer. For larger cases, more than 6 veneers, we do offer a free power teeth whitening. We may or may not include any gum surgery that is needed to make things ideal, depends on if need to remove bone or just tissue.

Do I need to be numb when I get my veneers?

Yes, you will need to be numb on multiple visits. The visit that we prepare the teeth for your veneers and take an impression you need to be numb for. Most people also need to be numb for the appointment when we put your dental veneers on as well.

Can you floss in-between a dental veneer and another tooth or another dental veneer?

Yes!  One thing we do when you get your Wheaton dental veneers is check to ensure all of the cement is cleaned up around them .  To check this in-between the teeth, flossing is one of the first things we do.  The floss should snap through and flow through nice and smoothly.  The floss should not get caught on the edges of the veneer or excess cement as this will increase the likelihood of getting decay around your veneer.  A veneer will floss the same as a well made crown.

If Wheaton dental veneers are something that interest you, give us a call! We offer free consults and we can discuss your options!  We will let you know exactly what your veneers cost will be.