How many times have you looked in the mirror and wished you had your dream smile? One that would light up a room and give you more confidence. Well, thanks to cosmetic dentistry, dreams can come true! Naturally, everyone has a different issue that they want to improve. While some people may simply want whiter teeth, others may be interested in closing gaps or straightening their teeth. In this blog post, we’re going to discuss dental veneers which is one of the most popular and versatile treatments we provide to improve teeth appearance.
A little bit of history
Dental veneers initially date back to the 1920s when Charles Pincus, a prominent dentist of the time was given the task of perfecting the look of actors’ teeth when they appeared on the big screen. Nowadays, people don’t have to be celebrities to have a Hollywood smile and if you want to achieve your dream smile without the hassle of braces or time-consuming dental work dental veneers could be right for you.
What are dental veneers?
Veneers are extremely thin shells of material that are bonded to the front of the teeth, typically the upper front teeth. Colour matched to the surrounding teeth they blend in seamlessly to give a beautiful and natural-looking smile.
Who are they for?
The best candidate for dental veneers is a person that doesn’t have extensive damage to their teeth but wants to achieve a perfect smile in a relatively non-invasive manner.
So, what can dental veneers fix to improve teeth appearance?
Veneers address a wide range of problems that people have with their teeth. For instance, they can conceal teeth that have darkened with age or that are heavily stained.
They also work to close gaps between teeth, cover dark fillings and fix worn, broken or chipped teeth.
If you have a misshapen tooth or teeth, veneers can give the appearance of reshaped or resized teeth to improve the aesthetics of your smile.
Veneers can also give the impression of a perfectly straight and even smile, concealing mild misalignments and in some cases, negating the need for orthodontic work.
Dental veneers materials
Veneers are made from porcelain or composite resin and which you choose depends on your budget and your end goal. Both composite and porcelain veneers have different benefits and improve teeth appearance significantly.
Because porcelain has similar translucent properties to tooth enamel, they reflect light and give a smile its sparkle. Porcelain veneers are also highly stain-resistant and durable, lasting somewhere between 10 to 15 years before they need replacing.
Porcelain veneers are the more expensive of the two treatments and can set you back around $1900 per tooth. This is because they are digitally designed and customised for each tooth and created in a dental lab before being bonded to the teeth.
Composite veneers, on the other hand, are made from the same resin material that we use for tooth coloured fillings and while they achieve similar results, they stain more easily and are less durable with a shelf life of around 3-7 years.
This type of dental veneer is carefully handcrafted by a dentist directly to the tooth, shaped and hardened with a high-density light. They typically cost around $800 per tooth and make an ideal choice for a person on a limited budget looking to improve the appearance of their teeth and transform their smile.
Our experienced dentists at Beyond Infinity Dental will be more than happy to discuss the pros and cons of each treatment to help you decide which is best for you. Why not schedule a consultation today.
How do porcelain veneers work?
Porcelain veneers work by covering your existing teeth with a thin layer of porcelain. The dentist will have to shave off a minuscule layer of tooth enamel both to help the veneers adhere and to ensure they sit flush within the smile.
There’s no need to cover every tooth with a veneer, just ones that you have a problem with and perhaps the neighbouring teeth.
Our dentist can recommend the number of dental veneers you need and can match their colour and shape to your surrounding teeth for a truly natural look. Most people tend to cover just the visible upper and lower teeth that show when they smile. However, if your smile is almost how you want it, our dentist can place porcelain veneers on individual teeth within your smile, a bit like placing a piece into a jigsaw puzzle, to create the smile you want.
See how your new smile will look
It can be a bit of a gamble knowing whether your dentist fully understands how you want to improve the appearance of your teeth – especially when describing how you want your new smile to look.
Fortunately, we’ve got that issue covered with the use of digital smile design software.
It’s your smile and we want you to be involved in its design from the outset. Smile design software enables our dentist to show you how your new smile will look on a screen, making it easier for patients to communicate and finalise their desired outcome.
Together we can help you get the smile of your dreams and, even better, it usually takes no more than two dental visits to achieve.
Where can you get porcelain veneers?
Your regular dentist may already offer porcelain veneers but if they don’t we know a cosmetic dentist that does!
If you’re considering dental veneers there’s no time like the present. Dr Jack Yang is highly experienced in all aspects of porcelain veneers, pays close attention to ensuring your smile is even and symmetric and is meticulous at blending shades to create a seamless smile. We also use Infinity Veneers that utilise specially blended porcelain and adhesive cement to ensure they remain colour-stable for their entire duration. Your smile couldn’t be in better hands!
An initial consultation will be required to examine your teeth and gums to determine whether composite or porcelain veneers are a suitable treatment. He is also more than happy to discuss alternative treatments that could achieve a similar outcome.
So, what are you waiting for? Schedule a no-obligation consultation today and move closer to your dream smile. Call us now on (02) 8806 3799.
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
