Fitness, General Health

Dental Veneers: Improve Your Oral Health & Self-Esteem

If you’re thinking of seeking out a dentist in Coral Springs to get some dental veneers, this article is for you. Dental veneers can be a wonderful way to enhance your smile. So in this article, I’ll discuss what dental veneers are and why someone might want to get them.

Believe it or not dental veneers have been around since the 1920’s. They were invented by a dentist named Charles Pincus. Initially, they were used in the film industry to temporarily change the appearance of an actor’s teeth. But year later, the process of permanently bonding veneers to teeth was improved enough so that they could be installed on a more permanent basis.

Why Someone Might Want Veneers

There are a number of reasons why an individual might want to get veneers. If your teeth have become discolored and attempts at teeth whitening in Coral Springs have not made a difference, this could be an option. Teeth can become discolored for a variety of reasons including drinking lots of red wine, eating lots of spicy foods that use tomatoes as a base, smoking, and consuming certain medications.

In addition, veneers can be used to cover over gaps between teeth and even shorten or lengthen teeth.

So if you think that all of your favorite celebrities were born with perfect teeth, you’d be wrong. In more instances than you’d expect, they owe their existing pearly whites to dental veneers.

What Are Dental Veneers?

The quick answer is that dental veneers are thin shells. That’s right, if you took an impression of the surface of each of your teeth and then had the impressions turned into copies using porcelain or a composite resin material, you’d have veneers.

Creating the veneers or shells is not something that your dentist does in the back room of his dental office. Instead, the impressions of your teeth are sent to a lab that specializes in making veneers. It could take up to a couple of weeks to get them made. Then, they are sent back to your dentist who must then apply them to the surface of your existing teeth.

How Are Dental Veneers Applied?

So just to be clear, you can’t simply call into a dentist and order a set of veneers. In order to fitted for them, the dentist will have first had you in his office to x-ray your teeth, examine them, and have a discussion with you about expectations and the look you want to achieve.

The dentist will have also laid out the options as far as pricing, insurance, and payment. In all likelihood, he or should would have told you that porcelain veneers are more expensive than those made of composite resin. However, porcelain veneers will be more resistant to staining going forward.

Once you’re happy with the discussion, only then will the dentist take measurements of the surface of your teeth and and impression of them.

When the veneers are returned, the dentist will shave down the enamel of your teeth by a millimeter or two that equates to the same thickness of the veneer shells.

He will apply one of the veneers to make sure that the fit and color are exactly what you specified. If all is well, he will proceed with cementing or bonding all of the veneer shells to the surface of your existing teeth.

He can further fine tune the look of them by trimming and shaving the veneers themselves to make them appear as natural as possible.

When the final adjustments are done, you can be on your way. Just keep in mind that you will have continue with your regular oral hygiene regimen. The dentist may also instruct you to cut back on certain food and drinks to limit the risk of tooth discoloration.

If you live in the Coral Springs area and would like to be evaluated for veneers, teeth whitening, or other cosmetic ways to brighten your smile, then visit www.CoralSpringsDentalPros.com to learn more.