Porcelain Veneers
What makes a smile beautiful? Good tooth color, shape and alignment are a few of the most identifiable qualities of a lovely smile. If you’re looking for a way to improve the appearance of your smile, dental veneers are a quick, effective, and versatile option. A porcelain veneer is a wafer-thin layer of super-strong porcelain that convincingly substitutes for natural tooth enamel. Like natural tooth enamel, porcelain veneers are translucent and tough, with an additional advantage - they're stain-resistant, unlike tooth enamel. When bonded to your teeth, they can create a natural-looking, beautiful new surface, allowing you to smile confidently.
Porcelain veneers can improve many cosmetic issues such as discoloration, cracks, chips, and broken teeth. They are also used to “reshape” misaligned, uneven or irregularly shaped (teeth with bulges), as well as gaps between teeth. If your teeth could use improvement in any of these categories, porcelain veneers may be the solution in giving you a beautiful, confident smile.
Porcelain veneers are custom-made in a laboratory to fit your unique smile. The high-quality, wafer-thin porcelain has a translucent quality that allows the veneer to look incredibly natural. In addition to being super-strong, the porcelain is also very stain resistant and extremely durable. While it is still possible to damage them if you aren’t careful, veneers can last on average for 8 - 10 years.
Porcelain veneers are very versatile and can mask a wide array of cosmetic concerns. They can be used to improve any of the following characteristics of your teeth:
Color — Teeth can become stained by food and drink, smoking, medication and aging. Veneers are available in numerous shades, from the most natural to the brightest Hollywood white.
Size & Shape — Your teeth can wear down with time, or may not be your preferred size or shape. Veneers can reshape your teeth to enhance your features.
Alignment & Spacing — Veneers can be used to close small gaps between teeth or make slight corrections in alignment while improving tooth color and shape.
Limitations of Porcelain Veneers
Veneers are not appropriate for all situations. If your teeth are significantly misaligned or have large gap, orthodontics (braces) may be a more appropriate solution to correct these problems. If you have lost a lot of tooth structure from decay, trauma or a particularly severe grinding habit, restoring your teeth with porcelain crowns that cover the entire tooth would be the better solution.
Your Porcelain Veneers Procedure
Your porcelain veneers procedure will require 2 visits.
At your first visit, we’ll work with you in selecting the colour and shade of your new veneers. We’ll then do some minor enamel preparation and take some impressions of your teeth. You will be fitted with temporary veneers while your permanent veneers are being fabricated, which usually takes approximately 2 weeks.
At your second visit, your new veneers will be fitted properly and then bonded to your teeth. We’ll make any adjustments necessary to ensure your bite is balanced and feels comfortable. Welcome to your new smile!