Pros and cons of veneers

September 22, 2022 Reading time ~ 5 min Number of reads : 20652

Dazzle others with a Hollywood smile today can everyone. To do this, you just need to install thin plates on the teeth – veneers. But before you decide to decide on prosthetics, you need to analyze all the pros and cons of veneers.

They are made of different materials:

1. Composites
2. Ceramics (feldspathic, glass-filled, polycrystalline)
3. Zirconium oxide

The material determines how the onlays are placed. Composite veneers are placed by a dentist during a regular appointment. Ceramic veneers are made from impressions in a dental laboratory.

In any case, it does not take long to install the onlays, maximum 10 days.

But are veneers as harmless as the advertising claims?

The whole truth about veneers

Seeing their idols on the Internet or on TV screens, you involuntarily notice their bright smiles. You want your smile to dazzle. But there is always the fear that “something will go wrong”. We are used to being wary of promises of all the “best”. Should we trust claims that veneers can change your smile forever?

What veneers do

• Hide chips, cracks, and gaps between teeth

Veneers not only hide these defects, they protect against bacteria getting into the irregularities and prevent food from getting stuck. This reduces the risk of infection and inflammation

• Disguise stains, fluorosis discoloration

What could be sadder if your teeth are healthy, but you don’t want to smile because the color of your enamel is not pleasing? Ceramic plates mimic natural enamel so that you can talk and smile without embarrassment.

• They make the tooth row straight by hiding protruding units

Braces can also help in this situation, but they need to be worn for a long time and require special care. Veneers solve the problem in a short time and you don’t have to change anything in your life.

• Enhances the bite

The cosmetic effect extends not only to the teeth, but also to the face. If the bite is normal height, fine lines and wrinkles are smoothed out, cheekbones are lifted, and facial expression changes.

With a low bite, the lower jaw tends to shift backwards, changing occlusion (touching surfaces), aging the smile, and even affecting posture. Normal bite height brings the jaw back into place, the smile becomes younger, and posture improves.

It is difficult to overestimate the psychological changes in a person who is not embarrassed to smile. He begins to feel more confident, acts more decisively, becomes more active socially.

Additional advantages of veneers:

• Naturalness. Plates look natural, the surrounding people can guess about the artificial origin of the Hollywood smile only if the color is chosen from the category Bleach (Bleach). These are dazzling white shades that do not exist in nature, but in overlays – yes.
• Theservice life of ceramic veneers reaches 20-25 years, so such an investment will more than pay off. In the case of composite veneers, the period of use is lower, they will have to be replaced more often; their advantage is their low price.
• Ability to change the color of teeth. Sometimes, a patient simply does not like the color of his teeth. Bleaching can improve the situation a little, the veneers have more possibilities in this matter.
• Strengthening of teeth. Plaques are made of very hard materials, they give teeth additional strength.
• Low risk of tooth decay. On a hard, smooth surface, bacteria have nothing to latch on to. They accumulate less, and the risk of tooth decay is lower. That answers the question of whether veneers are harmful. But veneers cover the teeth only from the frontal side, so hygiene still plays an important role in the prevention of oral diseases.

Minuses of veneers

To install veneers, it is necessary to prepare the surface. This is done by grinding off the top layer of enamel. The procedure is painless, but irreversible. It is impossible to refuse veneers, veneering is for life. This feature gives ground to discuss the harm of veneers. It is the irreversibility of the process that discourages many patients from undergoing the procedure. However, the overlays are not felt at all, and their service life is so long that the installation of veneers becomes an action from the series of “put and forget”.

Other disadvantages of veneers include:

• High cost. Composite veneers are cheaper, but they must be constantly polished and replaced about every 5 years. Ceramic plates do not change color, keep smoothness, serve for many years. Prices for them are high, but in most cases, you will have to pay only once.

• Impossibility of repair. If, as a result of injury or failure to follow the recommendations, a piece of the lining broke off, it will have to be replaced. Each veneer is installed separately, so only the veneer that broke off will need to be remodeled.

Whether to put veneers or not, everyone decides for himself. There is no medical intervention without side effects. Veneering has them, too. You just need to weigh the consequences of veneers and realize what is more important. If your own teeth are in good condition, it makes sense to discuss other options for correcting your smile, such as whitening. The benefits of veneers are important when other ways to improve the condition of your teeth are not possible.