Jillian Diamond
Over the past few years, veneers have gained popularity as a permanent fix to cosmetic dental problems. Many television stars and celebrities owe their dazzling smiles to veneers, which are small dental prosthetics that can replace chipped or broken teeth, conceal tooth gaps and correct colors.
But like any cosmetic procedure, the decision to get veneers can be a serious choice—especially since at the moment, porcelain veneers are an irreversible procedure. Once you get them installed, they cannot be easily removed if you don’t like them.
Veneers are shells, often made of porcelain or resin, that are designed to fit over teeth. Though they are similar to dental crowns, they differ greatly in terms of their usage. While dental crowns are meant to strengthen teeth by covering them completely, helping to restore damage and decay, veneers are a cosmetic treatment and only cover the surface of a tooth.
“Veneers can make a dramatic improvement in terms of shape, size and color of the tooth,” says Dr. Yehuda Lehrfield, a general dentist and the owner of The Smile Design Center in Timonium, Maryland. “Typically with minimal intervention in terms of cutting off teeth. Crown preparations often require quite a bit of removal of healthy tooth structure, and veneers do not.”
He adds that veneers are also an option for treating rotated or overcrowded teeth without compromising the structural integrity of a person’s mouth. Veneers present the appearance of straightened, normally distanced teeth without requiring the actual straightening or moving them apart.
“I like to call them ‘instant orthodontics,’” he quips.
It’s worth noting that veneers are not considered a safe option for people who have significant dental health problems. The website for the Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic notes that if you suffer from cavities or gum disease, you should seek to deal with those issues first before considering veneers. Since the process of installing veneers involves filing down the enamel on your natural teeth, this can weaken the structure of your teeth if you already have cavities.
This process can be unpleasant and result in some soreness, but Lehrfield reassures that anesthetic is always used unless the patient requests that it not be.
Additionally, the clean, white look that veneers offer is largely for show. It is still entirely possible to get cavities after veneers are installed, too, as veneers do not cover the back of teeth. An article written for Northside Dental Co. in Richmond, Virginia, specifies that veneers can offer mild protection against cavities on the front of teeth, but the back can still be susceptible.
“One concern I’ve always had is that the structure of teeth do not grow back on their own, so I worried that every time I touched them, I was decreasing their life,” Lehrfield says. “But because the tooth structure removed for the process of veneers is so minimal, we’ve seen them last for 20 years or more. In my opinion, they’re one of the best investments anyone can make.”
Like any major investment, Lehrfield suggests that people think through if they are prepared to undergo a procedure that is typically not reversible and can be uncomfortable and unpleasant. And, of course, people should still be sure to take care of their teeth, whether they have veneers or not.
“It does a great job fixing your smile and making things look nice,” he says. “But it requires care. You still have to take care of your teeth. I usually recommend that veneers patients invest in a night guard.”