Porcelain veneers are a beautiful way of improving your smile in two easy stages. No longer a celebrity secret, most people can now utilise porcelain veneers to achieve the optimum smile and gain a very positive impact on their self-esteem. This smile enhancing treatment caters for people who are unhappy about the appearance of their teeth. If you often feel too shy to smile so as to avoid showing your teeth, read on, as this method is a tried and tested, effective way to enhance and improve your smile.
Porcelain Veneers
Porcelain veneers are extremely versatile, and can be used to;
- Close unwanted gaps and spaces, such as unsightly anterior (front) spacing or diastemas
- Correct minor tooth alignments and angulations to create the illusion of straighter teeth
- Improve balance and proportions of differently sized front teeth
- Correct tooth sizes where a tooth is small or peg-shaped on eruption (microdontia)
- Cover over mismatched tooth colours, such as root filled teeth, which become grey with time
- Hide white patches caused by loss of calcium (hypoplastic markings)
- Restore chipped edges or large (non-decayed) mismatched fillings
- Restore the shape of teeth after the trauma of accidental damage
- Cover over and protect teeth from effects of age-related wear or severe brushing abrasions
- Protect precious remaining enamel from further acid erosion loss
- Mask exposed yellow dentine and protect this exposed sensitive inner layer of the tooth
Before and After Photos
Use your mouse to hover over the images below to see the before and after of patients using porcelain veneers.
Before Patient After
What are porcelain veneers?
Porcelain veneers are a thin layer of carefully crafted porcelain which covers the front of a tooth to conceal any defects. Porcelain is an ideal, naturally translucent material which mimics the way light is reflected and shines through the enamel of natural teeth, so teeth restored this way look vibrant and very realistic. We use the very latest types of porcelain and zirconia so we can provide strength as well as beauty.
How is this achieved?
After a consultation appointment with an experienced clinician, who will listen to your ideas and discuss your preferred tooth shape, this information will be used to assess how your ideal smile can be achieved, with attention and consideration of your personal bite (occlusion), and reference to how the teeth move in function (chewing).
Photographs can be taken, and using our latest in dental imaging DentalMaster and DentalMagic, we can show you how the improvements to your smile will look, and with the aid of computer graphics simulate how your very own veneers will appear using a moving 3D imaging system – Sometimes, only seeing is believing. We can also take models of your mouth and build up an exact replica (called a diagnostic wax up) of the veneers on your very own teeth, which hold in your hand if you require further specific 3D detail clarification.
What happens at the appointment?
At the treatment appointment, depending on your individual needs, the teeth may require careful modification to create the space required to fit the veneers. At this stage, we endeavour to preserve as much of your own tooth as possible, but some reduction of size may be required to prevent over-bulkiness of the finished veneer and this applies to previously unfilled teeth.
Dental impressions are taken which are then sent to the lab where our very own skilled technicians will make the final product. We even encourage you to visit the laboratory to watch the various stages of your own veneer construction (not usually required but available if you wish). For that extra special attention to detail, we can arrange a visit from our technicians to take a personally tailored shade or register an individual tooth surface characterisation.
During the two week period to manufacture your new smile, your natural teeth will be protected with a pleasing white temporary coverage to ensure the teeth remain comfortable, and you can carry on with your normal life.
At the final appointment, your veneers will be shown to you and when you are 100% happy they will be permanently cemented to your natural teeth. Your bite will be checked and any refining adjustments applied to ensure they are comfortable. From that point on it’s up to you how you use them… But we find most of our patients just can’t stop grinning!
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