Have you ever avoided showing your teeth when smiling, or do you have any concerns about your front teeth when you do, such as staining, crowding, or irregularly shaped teeth?
If so, dental veneers could be the treatment you are looking for.
What Are Dental Veneers?
Dental veneers are thin, tooth-colored pieces of either composite resin or porcelain that are placed onto the front surface of your teeth. They are often used as an oral cosmetic device to correct dental flaws, such as:
- Crooked teeth
- Chipped or broken teeth
- Discolored teeth
- Spaced teeth
Veneers are also shaped to look like natural teeth and are tailored to each individual so that they match harmoniously with your smile and facial features. While it is true that these thin, cap-like coverings offer an array of aesthetic benefits
Oral Health Benefits of Veneers
Veneers can replace damaged enamel and prevent tooth decay.
Tooth enamel can be worn down from consuming highly acidic food or from brushing your teeth too hard. Medical conditions such as acid reflux can also contribute to tooth enamel being eroded away. Unfortunately, once tooth enamel is gone, it cannot grow back and the damage is done, eventually leading to enamel abrasion or erosion.
Without enamel, your teeth are more susceptible to tooth sensitivity and decay. This is when you’ll start noticing signs such as a sharp shooting sensation to hot and cold food and drinks, sharp irregular edges to your teeth, and discoloration. Veneers can help by covering the front of your teeth, acting as a protective barrier and preventing your teeth from further decay.
Veneers can strengthen your teeth
Veneers have protective qualities when attached to your teeth. If your teeth are worn, weak, or fractured, veneers can bond with a weakened tooth and protect it from harm. Effectively, they help to cover vulnerable and structurally unsound teeth, minimizing potential damage.
In the long run, porcelain veneers may eliminate the need for more expensive treatments such as crowns or dental implants, which are typically used to treat damaged teeth.
Dental veneers can correct irregularly spaced teeth
While irregularly spaced teeth is often seen as an aesthetic fault, it can also cause health problems and issues with your bite and function. For example, spacing issues can often cause insufficient room for other teeth, leading to overcrowding in other areas. As a result, food can become trapped frequently in small spaces which can lead to food stagnation and subsequent tooth decay and gum disease.
Dental veneers might be an effective solution to counter this problem as they can cover the spaces completely or make them smaller so as to prevent food from reaching those hard to brush areas.
If your teeth have irregular spacing, porcelain veneers can also help to straighten their position by closing small gaps and correcting misalignments in a much quicker manner than traditional braces. That being said, porcelain veneers can only help correct minor gaps and misalignments. Sometimes a combined approach may be required for highly aesthetic cases to meet the patient’s expectations.
Dental veneers can correct crooked or misaligned teeth
Crooked or misaligned teeth can cause health or speech problems, and may affect how you bite and chew. On top of that, it can be harder to clean your teeth, thereby increasing the risk of tooth decay and gum disease.
Straightening teeth won’t just make for a more attractive smile; it can also be key to improving dental health and relieving other issues such as jaw pain which may be caused by traumatic bites and habits.
Dental veneers can help to correct teeth alignment and spacing, especially for relatively minor cases. It is a viable option for patients who are not so keen in more complex orthodontic procedures or wish to prevent a future need for braces.
Dental Veneers can correct chipped or cracked teeth
Chipped or cracked teeth are a common problem caused by accidents, cavities, poor oral hygiene, or bad habits such as tooth grinding. Cracked and chipped teeth can lead to hypersensitivity and eventually trauma to the nerve within a tooth. This would put you at high risk of needing root canal treatment. If left untreated, they can lead to more serious health problems such as infections.
With veneers, the chip or crack can be effectively covered. Moreover, it is a long-lasting treatment that doesn’t involve severe modification of the tooth thus minimizing the biological cost!
Conclusion
Veneers are also shaped to look like natural teeth and are tailored to each individual so that they match harmoniously with your smile and facial features. If you are considering dental veneers, talk to your dentist to discuss the risks and benefits of this procedure. Your dentist can help you to determine if veneers are the right treatment for you.
References
- Fletcher, J. (2020, May 29). Dental veneers: Cost, procedure, and results. Medical News Today. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/dental-veneers
- Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG). (2020, Jan 16). What are misaligned teeth and jaws? InformedHealth.org, 2006. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553375/?report=reader
- Pavesi Pini, N., Henrique Baggio Aguiar, F., Alves Nunes Leite Lima, D., & Roberto Lovadino, J. (2012). Advances in dental veneers: materials, applications, and techniques. Clinical, Cosmetic Investigational Dentistry, 4, 9-16. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3652364/
- Wyatt, A. D. (2020, June 7). Tooth Enamel: Erosion and Restoration. WebMD. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/tooth-enamel-erosion-restoration
