Dental Porcelain Veneers
What are porcelain veneers (also known as laminates, Lumineers™ and Emprethin™)?
A porcelain veneer is a thin layer of translucent material placed over the surface of a tooth to improve the appearance of the tooth, or to protect a damaged surface.
Why are porcelain veneers a good choice?
Porcelain veneers are probably the most attractive and natural looking material for creating a more beautiful smile. They require a minimal amount of tooth reduction (approximately 0.5 mm to 1 mm) and are, therefore, a more conservative restoration than a crown. Veneers allow us to alter tooth position, shape, size and color. They are not the only alternative for esthetic abnormalities, but are truly a remarkable restoration.
When are porcelain veneers the best choice?
- When your teeth need improvement in alignment (straightening) especially if there are issues of color (not bright or white enough)
- If your teeth are not heavily filled, especially if the existing fillings are small and most of the tooth’s enamel is still present
- When you feel orthodontic correction of tooth alignment does not fit your life style
Deciding how your teeth with new veneers should look
Dr. Binder treats each patient as a unique case with personal goals for an attractive healthy smile as a priority in planning his or her dental needs.
We recommend the least-complicated solution to help patients reach their personal smile goals, which they express at their initial consultation. Solutions could involve the use of porcelain veneers and or cosmetic bonding and veneering. Sometimesconservative bonding will help the patient reach the goal for their smile.
We work with each patient to understand what they do not like about their smile. Do they wish their teeth were longer, shorter, or are the teeth already the length they like, but the individual tooth sizes don’t have balance, or there are unsightly spaces between teeth? Is the smile broad enough to fill the space between the lip corners and the fronts of the back teeth? These are some of the reasons why an individual might choose porcelain veneers to enhance the attractiveness of their smile.
If there is any question at all whether porcelain veneers can solve the problem smile, we can create a model made of wax and either temporarily bond tooth-colored resin to resemble this model or fabricate an overlay of resin material that enables the patient to “field test” the anticipated change to their smile before committing to treatment.