Brighter, More Symmetrical Smiles
Dental veneers are layers of composite or tooth-coloured porcelain that are placed on the front part of the teeth. These thin shells can be used by dentists to correct worn teeth, fix alignment issues and cover chips, cracks, and discolouration that cannot be helped with professional tooth whitening.
Cosmetic veneers can help restore your smile, giving you improved alignment and helping to protect the surfaces of damaged teeth – often eliminating the need for extensive treatments in the future.
At Oceanfront Dental, we also offer prepless veneers. These are thin veneers that can often be placed with little to no removal of the natural tooth structure.
Prepless veneers can be ideal for patients with room on the front of their teeth for this ultra-thin restoration. Others, however, may benefit more from traditional veneers if there are crowding issues or we are trying to improve on the shade of the teeth.
Both traditional and prepless veneers can help to create a brighter, more uniform smile for our patients.
Conventional Porcelain Veneers
Porcelain veneers are custom made to fit your teeth and are made from dental porcelain. These veneers typically require three visits to our office.
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Diagnosis & Planning
We will start by diagnosing your condition and examining your teeth to determine whether veneers are a good fit for your needs. If they are, we will commence with treatment planning for your veneer placement procedure.
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Preparing the Tooth
Your dentist will prepare each tooth requiring a veneer by removing a small portion of the enamel from its surface – about a ½ millimetre. This allows for a natural fit. Once removed, X-rays, pictures, and impressions will be taken and will be sent to the dental lab for your new custom-made dental veneers. To cover and protect your teeth until your veneers are manufactured, Oceanfront Dental may recommend temporary veneers.
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Bonding the Veneer
Before permanently placing the dental veneers, your dentist will place them temporarily to check for colour and fit. Once satisfied with the placement, your dentist will clean, polish and etch the tooth. Etching makes the bond stronger. Once etched, a conditioning liquid and dental cement will be used to bond the dental veneers into place. Once the veneer is in place, your dentist will cure it with a laser or light. Once hardened, your porcelain veneers will be checked for their effect on your bite, before a final polishing is performed.
Your dentist may recommend a follow-up dental visit to make sure that your gums are responding well to the dental veneers.
Porcelain veneers can last up to 15 years or more if good oral hygiene is practiced. However, porcelain veneers can damage easily because of the thickness of the porcelain.
Prepless Veneers
Prepless veneers are much thinner than conventional porcelain veneers and require less enamel to be removed from the natural tooth.
Treatment with prepless dental veneers generally requires two dental visits to our Vancouver dental clinic.
The prepless veneer processes is relatively straightforward, involving the preparation and temporization of the teeth in the first appointment, and then a final cementation appointment during which the veneers will be permanently placed.
This effective cosmetic restoration allows patients to have veneers while reducing the risk of the negative aspects of tooth reduction, such as increased tooth sensitivity and reduced lifespan of the veneer itself.
Prepless veneers can survive 20 years or longer if you brush, floss and schedule regular dental checkups. Because they are so thin, this types of dental veneer resist wear well.