What are Porcelain Veneers?
Porcelain veneers are thin wafers of porcelain, about half a millimeter thick (the thickness of a fingernail) that are bonded onto the front of teeth to create a smile makeover. They create a beautiful result. Porcelain mimics tooth structure better than any other restorative material. It is harder than enamel, so it resists wear and can last for many years. Dental artists can manipulate the color and translucency to re-create the look of any tooth. And it resists stain better than tooth enamel. Very rarely will it discolor, unless the surface has been damaged.
Some advertising creates the false impression that placing porcelain veneers requires that your teeth be "ground down". It would be more accurate to say that your teeth are shaved a little. The amount of reduction is minimal and doesn't damage the teeth. The picture on the right shows how thin they are and how a prepared tooth looks very much like an unprepared tooth.
(Note: Many people find our web site content so valuable, they want to copy it onto their site. Click here if you want to copy some of our web site content).
A beautiful smile makeoverwith porcelain veneers created by Dr. David Hall,author of this website
Porcelain veneers should be placed by an expert cosmetic dentist
General dentists tend to be very inartistic. What attracts them to dentistry is that they like to fix things. However, placing porcelain veneers is art. It is a very demanding art form. A dentist needs to be an artist to do them well. My estimate is that 98 to 99 percent of dentists don't have the artistic passion required to create a beautiful smile. And they don't have the passion required to motivate them to attend the extensive continuing education required past dental school to master the techniques involved. Click here to find a cosmetic dentist with the artistic passion and training to be able to create a new smile.
Let me illustrate this lack of artistic sensitivity in the dental profession with an incident that I viewed on a popular online dental forum. A dentist posed a situation: A beautiful woman who was his patient had a large space between her front teeth. It was large enough, he said, that he could fit an extra tooth in the space, so he asked about the feasibility of placing a dental implant there. There followed a discussion of whether there would be enough bone to support this, how long it would last, and whether orthodontics would work better. I came into the discussion late and was the only dentist participating in the forum to have a serious problem with how this would look. This is typical with dentists—they are generally great, sincere people but have little artistic sense.
Can you imagine going to a technician dentist to get a new smile with porcelain veneers when that dentist thinks that having three front teeth instead of two looks okay? But that is what happens, and my e-mail files are full of complaints from disappointed patients who, after getting a smile makeover from their family dentist, are wondering why it doesn't look beautiful and sparkly like they expected.
What can be accomplished with Porcelain Veneers
before after
Many problems with your teeth can be solved with porcelain veneers. As shown on the left, they are great for restoring worn or chipped teeth.
They can be used to cover stained teeth. If you have tetracycline teeth stains, this is the only way to get a beautiful smile. And while whitening works for many other types of stains, with porcelain veneers your dentist/artist has the ability to control the exact shade and to also alter the shapes of the teeth.
They can also be used to close spaces between the teeth, or to lengthen the teeth.
And they can also be an alternative to braces. Some people call them "instant orthodontics" because with porcelain veneers you can have your teeth straightened in two appointments rather than waiting one to three years for regular orthodontic treatment.
Click here to ask Dr. Hall a question about this or any other cosmetic dentistry topic.
Other porcelain veneers information:
Lumineers are extra tough porcelain veneers that can be made very thin and bonded to the front of the teeth without having to grind on the teeth beforehand. They are made by Den-Mat. They are popular with non-expert cosmetic dentists, because the technical aspects of placing them are easy. We warn you to be cautious in responding to ads about Lumineers. Doing them right requires a lot of artistic ability, so it's important to go to an expert cosmetic dentist.
See photographs of extreme makeover cosmetic dentistry. You will marvel at what can be done by talented cosmetic dentists.
Learn about one-appointment Cerec porcelain veneers. Dr. George Mantell, in Tucson, has patients fly into Tucson and get a new smile in a single four-hour appointment.
One patient asks, "I'm getting stains on the edges of my porcelain veneers. How can I get rid of those?"
Our cosmetic dentistry costs page has fee survey information about cosmetic dentistry costs.
Some general dentists say porcelain veneers don't last. Do they?
Read some of the href="http://www.mynewsmile.com/horrorstories.htm">cosmetic dentistry horror stories we've received through e-mails from our visitors., where he answers questions from visitors.
Porcelain veneers are thin wafers of porcelain, about half a millimeter thick (the thickness of a fingernail) that are bonded onto the front of teeth to create a smile makeover. They create a beautiful result. Porcelain mimics tooth structure better than any other restorative material. It is harder than enamel, so it resists wear and can last for many years. Dental artists can manipulate the color and translucency to re-create the look of any tooth. And it resists stain better than tooth enamel. Very rarely will it discolor, unless the surface has been damaged.
Some advertising creates the false impression that placing porcelain veneers requires that your teeth be "ground down". It would be more accurate to say that your teeth are shaved a little. The amount of reduction is minimal and doesn't damage the teeth. The picture on the right shows how thin they are and how a prepared tooth looks very much like an unprepared tooth.
(Note: Many people find our web site content so valuable, they want to copy it onto their site. Click here if you want to copy some of our web site content).
A beautiful smile makeoverwith porcelain veneers created by Dr. David Hall,author of this website
Porcelain veneers should be placed by an expert cosmetic dentist
General dentists tend to be very inartistic. What attracts them to dentistry is that they like to fix things. However, placing porcelain veneers is art. It is a very demanding art form. A dentist needs to be an artist to do them well. My estimate is that 98 to 99 percent of dentists don't have the artistic passion required to create a beautiful smile. And they don't have the passion required to motivate them to attend the extensive continuing education required past dental school to master the techniques involved. Click here to find a cosmetic dentist with the artistic passion and training to be able to create a new smile.
Let me illustrate this lack of artistic sensitivity in the dental profession with an incident that I viewed on a popular online dental forum. A dentist posed a situation: A beautiful woman who was his patient had a large space between her front teeth. It was large enough, he said, that he could fit an extra tooth in the space, so he asked about the feasibility of placing a dental implant there. There followed a discussion of whether there would be enough bone to support this, how long it would last, and whether orthodontics would work better. I came into the discussion late and was the only dentist participating in the forum to have a serious problem with how this would look. This is typical with dentists—they are generally great, sincere people but have little artistic sense.
Can you imagine going to a technician dentist to get a new smile with porcelain veneers when that dentist thinks that having three front teeth instead of two looks okay? But that is what happens, and my e-mail files are full of complaints from disappointed patients who, after getting a smile makeover from their family dentist, are wondering why it doesn't look beautiful and sparkly like they expected.
What can be accomplished with Porcelain Veneers
before after
Many problems with your teeth can be solved with porcelain veneers. As shown on the left, they are great for restoring worn or chipped teeth.
They can be used to cover stained teeth. If you have tetracycline teeth stains, this is the only way to get a beautiful smile. And while whitening works for many other types of stains, with porcelain veneers your dentist/artist has the ability to control the exact shade and to also alter the shapes of the teeth.
They can also be used to close spaces between the teeth, or to lengthen the teeth.
And they can also be an alternative to braces. Some people call them "instant orthodontics" because with porcelain veneers you can have your teeth straightened in two appointments rather than waiting one to three years for regular orthodontic treatment.
Click here to ask Dr. Hall a question about this or any other cosmetic dentistry topic.
Other porcelain veneers information:
Lumineers are extra tough porcelain veneers that can be made very thin and bonded to the front of the teeth without having to grind on the teeth beforehand. They are made by Den-Mat. They are popular with non-expert cosmetic dentists, because the technical aspects of placing them are easy. We warn you to be cautious in responding to ads about Lumineers. Doing them right requires a lot of artistic ability, so it's important to go to an expert cosmetic dentist.
See photographs of extreme makeover cosmetic dentistry. You will marvel at what can be done by talented cosmetic dentists.
Learn about one-appointment Cerec porcelain veneers. Dr. George Mantell, in Tucson, has patients fly into Tucson and get a new smile in a single four-hour appointment.
One patient asks, "I'm getting stains on the edges of my porcelain veneers. How can I get rid of those?"
Our cosmetic dentistry costs page has fee survey information about cosmetic dentistry costs.
Some general dentists say porcelain veneers don't last. Do they?
Read some of the href="http://www.mynewsmile.com/horrorstories.htm">cosmetic dentistry horror stories we've received through e-mails from our visitors., where he answers questions from visitors.