Everything You Need to Know About Dental Veneers
My name is Dr. Martina Assad. I am the owner and dentist of MA Dental. Today, I'll be answering quite a lot of questions about cosmetic dentistry in general, and especially veneers.
What are veneers?
Veneers are like a band-aid, a front covering for the tooth. This is your tooth surface, and this is the facial covering or the front covering of your tooth. That's what people usually see. It is customized to the patient's liking. We get to do tons of shading, tons of shapes, and tons of sizes to give you a more aesthetically pleasing result.
What is the difference between a veneer and a crown?
A veneer is a 3/4 crown. A crown is a full hat that goes on top of the tooth. A veneer covers three-quarters of that. It goes in the front, the bottom part of the tooth, and both sides. It has to wrap around to a certain point so it can gain some of the strength. Usually, we prefer different material for a veneer than would be for a full hat, which is pretty much the crown.
What is the process for a veneer from start to finish?
We usually like to see the patient in. The very first thing would be to call our office and schedule an appointment. We usually do free consultations, especially for cosmetic cases.
I would take all the records needed, like X-rays, digital dentistry scans, visual images, and digital images, and then evaluate where your teeth fall in place. We need to figure out if you're even a candidate for veneers. Many people have the misconception that they're candidates for veneers, but there are a lot of challenges when it comes to veneers.
After that, we get to do a digital design for the veneers. We'd like to show you how your teeth would look after, and then we want to make sure that the patient approves that. You need to approve your own veneers the way they look, and then we'll start the preparation process. It is usually done in two appointments. Then, in the second appointment, you come in for the permanent segmentation of those veneers.
Will the veneers match my tooth color?
Absolutely, we can do that. Sometimes we can do one veneer in the front, sometimes two. We have the capability of doing three or all six or eight veneers depending on, again, the conditions of your own teeth and your own health. But we do have the capability to do just one veneer in the front if this is all you need.
What should I do to take care of my dental veneers?
It is pretty simple. Consider a veneer like an actual tooth. All you need to do is brush, floss, and take care of it. Do your part at home, which is maintaining really good oral hygiene. We'll be showing you and coaching you on how to do that.
Also, make sure you don't skip your dental appointments, which are super important. You have to come in every 6 months or every year, depending on the recommendation for you. You don't want to lose your warranty, and you want to make sure you elongate the lifespan of those veneers. It's a permanent procedure, so we want to make sure they don't fracture or break.
Whatever the recommendation for you will be, at the end of the day, you need to take care of them at home, but you also need to come into our office for regular checks.
Can I change the color of darker teeth with veneers?
The answer is yes. Again, it depends on the condition of the tooth. Usually, dark teeth have some sort of infection or previous trauma, like maybe you bumped your face or fell on your face. If this is the case, there might be other extra procedures needed before we even get you to the veneer. But the answer is yes, we can change teeth color via veneers. However, we have to make sure that your teeth are healthy and fall into the right position before we can attempt anything cosmetic like veneers.
Does insurance cover veneers?
I'll be honest with you, usually it's not a covered benefit because it's an aesthetic treatment, and insurance usually covers the most basic things, like infections or broken teeth. Sometimes if it's a broken tooth and we decide to do a veneer, it might not be the right choice of treatment because at that point the tooth is entirely broken and a full coverage veneer would come in.
There's a way to do veneers again, which we call a full coverage veneer or an aesthetic crown, that could be covered, but that depends on what your insurance would cover. Overall, the answer is no. But I don't want you to worry about it because we do have amazing flexible payment options. I don't want insurance to be in the way of getting the beautiful smile you always wanted.
If you live in or near Riverside, CA, and are looking for dental care, contact us at (951) 467-4399 to set an appointment. You can also email us at [email protected]. Our staff would love to talk with you!