Porcelain veneers are wafer-thin ceramic shells that are place on the surface of the teeth to give you a more beautiful and natural looking smile. It may not be a very appropriate treatment for all types of teeth even though there may be some exceptions. Your dentist is best placed to check and determine whether you are a good candidate for porcelain veneers. The teeth that are good candidates for porcelain veneers will include:

Placing Porcelain Veneer

• Porcelain veneers can be placed on the teeth that are naturally discolored or stained.
• They can be placed on the teeth that have previously undergone cosmetic bonding and are now discolored.
• Chipped or misaligned teeth can be corrected by bonding them with porcelain veneers. Thus it can correct minor tooth imperfections.
• The teeth that are bad candidates for porcelain veneers include:
• Porcelain veneers can’t be placed on the teeth that are decayed or unhealthy.
• They can’t be placed on the teeth of a person having gum disease.
• They can’t be placed on the teeth, which have lost large amount of their structure due to the decay.
• They can’t be placed on the teeth having a little or no enamel left on their front side.

What is the Process of Placing Porcelain Veneers?

It will basically take two sittings to complete the procedure of placing the veneers on your teeth. On the pioneer visit the dentist will begin by trimming your teeth and removing about 0.5 mm of the tooth enamel from the front side to prepare a place where the porcelain veneer is going to be placed.  The amount of the tooth enamel removed is same as the size of the porcelain veneer so that the original size of the teeth is retained. The dentist will then remove an impression of your teeth or create a mold, from which your porcelain veneers are made-up. During the second sitting, porcelain veneers are placed onto the front side of the teeth. Your dentist is now able to match the color of the porcelain veneers with your surrounding teeth. If you wish to do a complete overhaul of your teeth the dentist is able to provide an appropriate porcelain veneer color that will suit your teeth and give them that beautiful sparkle.

The upside of Porcelain Veneers

The greatest advantage of porcelain veneers is the natural look they give to your teeth. They are translucent like natural tooth enamel and therefore closely resemble natural tooth enamel. Because of this, the light striking the tooth’s surface doesn’t reflect but pass through the tooth enamel and reflects off the opaque tooth dentin lying beneath it. This gives the teeth a bright and lustrous appearance. They also have the benefit of being extremely strain resistant unlike those other cosmetic bonding materials and thus can be safely used by people who are addicted to harmful stuff like tea, coffee, and tobacco.

The downside of Porcelain Veneers

There is always the possibility that the veneers are going to fall off one time or another and in the event that they are broken, they cannot be repaired. This then makes them unsuitable for people who have the habit of biting nails and chewing hard stuff like pencils and the like. Having placed porcelain veneers is an irreversible process. Though minimum, some amount of tooth enamel is removed from the front side of the tooth. Because of this, the original appearance of the tooth is lost. Therefore you have to place porcelain veneers on it even if it falls off.  Also, because the enamel of the tooth is removed they may become more sensitive to hot or cold foods and drinks and there may be some experience of tooth decay as well. Unfortunately the cost becomes prohibitive to many people and the fact that they have to be replaced after 10 to 15 years aggravates the matter.