At Gibson & Bartholomew Restorative and Esthetic Dentistry, we want you to have a beautiful smile, and dental veneers are a quick way to achieve that. The treatment is aimed at people with stained, gapped or chipped teeth. However, they are irreversible, so this will be a permanent decision.

Veneers are a thin piece of porcelain that recreates your teeth’s natural appearance and also provides strength and resilience that resembles natural tooth enamel. They are custom made so they fit your teeth and are bonded to them in our office.

They are much less intrusive than crowns and braces. They can also be used to reduce or eliminate gaps between teeth, as well as correct misalignments. Veneers are a cosmetic solution for those who want to enhance the brightness of their teeth or improve the look of their smile.

Procedure

Typically, the veneer placement process takes between one and two appointments. If we pre-make the veneer, it will only be one, but to serve you better we prefer to create the veneer in our laboratory, and that takes two appointments.

When creating the veneer, we clean the tooth and decide which is the correct shade for it. We also shave off a very small amount of tooth enamel to make room to place the veneer on your tooth. Once we make the impression of your tooth we will send it to our dental lab, and place a temporary veneer on it.

When your permanent veneers are ready, we remove the temporary veneers and proceed to clean your tooth with water and pumice. Then we etch the veneer, rinse it thoroughly with water and let it air dry. We put the adhesive on the preparation and place the cement and the veneer for precise fit and contour.

We lightly cure the veneer on all sides for 60 seconds to help it get attached to the tooth structure. Finally, we remove any existing excess material and proceed to polish the margins of your veneer.

We often schedule a follow-up visit to make sure everything is still comfortable and in place. If any corrections or additional touch-ups need to be done, this is the perfect time for it. By checking that you are comfortable, we ensure a long-lasting veneer.

Veneer Care

Consider limiting stain-inducing foods such as coffee. Other than that, you’ll be looking after them the same way you’ll take care of your natural teeth, by brushing them daily, flossing, and using non-abrasive fluoride toothpaste.

Keeping good oral hygiene will make sure they last a long time. Porcelain veneers, which are preferred to correct shape and color issues, tend to last anywhere between 10 to 20 years.

To get more information about veneers and schedule your consultation, call the experienced professionals here at Gibson & Bartholomew Restorative and Esthetic Dentistry at (336) 283-2593 today!