Veneers and Lumineers May Help You Restore Your Smile
Cherrywood Dental • March 25, 2019
Over time, the protective coating on your teeth, also known as enamel tends to begin to wear off. There are a variety of factors that contribute to the wearing of your enamel including the diet choices that you make to the drinks that you choose to consume. Habits such as grinding your teeth can also further add to enamel loss. Once enamel gets lost, it cannot get brought back.
However, there are alternatives to restoring your smile, even if you cannot have your full enamel restored. These options include both veneers and lumineers, which can be put over your teeth to help restore your smile.
What Are Veneers?
Veneers are porcelain pieces that were made to act similarly to enamel in the sense that it’s a fragile layer (about 0.02mm thick) that goes over your teeth. Veneers will instantly give you a brighter, whiter smile that reflects the light in all of the correct places. Your veneers get custom-made so that they match the color of your regular teeth as closely as possible.
Veneers have become a typical way to help do anything from brightening up your existing teeth to helping to repair chipped teeth that you wish to have looked more natural when you smile. While your teeth do have to be shaved down to help make up the difference in thickness between veneers and your regular teeth, the process is generally done with little to no Novocaine and is relatively painless.
What is the Difference Between Veneers and Lumineers?
Lumineers, just like veneers, are a fragile layer of porcelain that goes over the tooth to protect it and give it a newfound whiteness. However, lumineers are incredibly strong and are made to be durable and last the upwards of 20 years, or even more, assuming they are well-maintained. Their transparent material helps them look completely natural, and most people will not even notice that you are wearing these over your natural teeth.
These coverings also require no preparing of the teeth beforehand. If you ever decide you don’t like them or need them replaced after a couple of decades, that’s no issue as we can return them without any additional hassle to you.
Procedure
To put either veneers or lumineers, you happen to find yourself looking at a pretty basic process. There’s no preparation to the teeth before the veneers are put on.
However, if you are interested in other forms of veneers, it’s common that your teeth will need shaving into the correct shape before the veneers can get placed over your natural teeth. Different types of veneers require two appointments, one to shave the teeth down (to make room for the thickness of the veneers) and at the second appointment, the veneers get applied and stuck to your teeth with a special liquid gel so that a strong bond develops between both the tooth and the veneer that will get placed on it.
Longevity & Care
As long as you take care of your new veneers just like you would your regular teeth, veneers can last for decades and potentially the rest of your life. They were designed to endure the wear and use of your daily routines and can become as equally durable as your regular teeth. You still need to visit your dentist for regular cleanings and maintain a good brushing and flossing routine at home while also eating a healthy, balanced diet and avoiding unhealthy beverages that stain teeth or are loaded with sugar.
In these cases, veneers can make a significant long-term “fix” to chipped, stained, or otherwise damaged teeth.
Conclusions
At Cherrywood Dental Associates we are happy to help you determine if veneers are the right way to help you brighten up your smile. Please contact us via telephone at (703) 565-5078
for our Woodbridge, Virginia location or 301-982-3300
for our Greenbelt, Maryland location so that we can help you set up a consultation to get your veneers fitted today.