Who qualifies for porcelain veneers treatment? Suffolk County cosmetic patients turn to Sachem Dental Group for honest advice about their smile makeover.
Porcelain veneers are an extremely popular cosmetic treatment at our Long Island practice. But not everyone is a candidate for veneers. As part of your initial consultation, we’ll discuss what goals you have in mind, what you’re hoping to achieve, and whether or not veneers can give you the “look” you want with your current oral health status.
Here are some of the qualifications for dental veneers that a prospective patient will want to keep in mind:
The Way Your Teeth Bite Together
Teeth that hit end to end can damage both tooth enamel as well as porcelain veneers. We’ll want to assess your occlusion (the way your teeth bite together) to see if there are any heavy-hitting points that could damage a veneer in that space. This factor is one reason why our Suffolk County cosmetic dentists rarely place veneers on the lower front teeth; if they did, there would be a higher chance of the veneer hitting the back of the upper tooth just above it.
Severity of Crowding or Gaps
Covering the front of your teeth with dental veneers instantly makes them look straighter. Since we can adjust the contours of the veneers in multiple directions, it’s possible to give the illusion that each of your teeth is lined up straight with their neighbors. Small gaps can be closed in and misalignment evened out.
However, there are always exceptions to the rule. If you have severe gaps or crowding, it may be physically impossible to place veneers over these spaces. Otherwise, the corresponding veneer would look too wide, too narrow, or completely unnatural. That’s why we need to look directly at your unique bite before planning any type of treatment.
Porcelain Veneers if You Have Periodontal Disease
Candidates for dental veneers need to have healthy gums and adequate bone support around their teeth. If you had periodontal disease in the past and it’s now under control, we can evaluate your candidacy on a tooth-by-tooth basis depending on the tissue attachment levels. But if your gums are unhealthy, bleed easily, or there’s deep pocketing, then it’s not an option to place veneers on those respective teeth.
The same can be said for the bone height around teeth. Bone loss can cause teeth to become mobile or eventually fall out. You don’t want to invest the time or money in dental veneers on teeth that may fail a few years down the road.
Fortunately, gum disease is treatable as long as you work with an experienced provider and take the time to care for your smile each day. So even if you’ve been treated for periodontitis in the past, be sure to ask our Long Island dentists if you still qualify for dental veneers.
Existing Decay or Significant Fractures
As with gum disease, we don’t want to place a cosmetic treatment like dental veneers on a tooth with active decay or major structural damage. Those areas of disease or compromised tooth enamel need to be addressed through restorative techniques like a porcelain crown. Since veneers only cover the front surface of teeth, they don’t provide the same level of reinforcement that a full-coverage crown or cap would.
The good news is that our Suffolk County cosmetic team can still pair veneers with other restorative treatments, like white fillings, bonding, ceramic crowns, and dental implants. So even if one of your teeth has a large cavity or fracture, we may be able to place veneers on the other ones and find an alternative solution for that specific tooth.
Clenching and Grinding Habits
Bruxism is a subconscious habit where people clench and grind their teeth together. Some people do it while they’re sleeping, focusing on a project, or during their commute home from work. Bruxism is also common among people who have untreated sleep apnea.
When you’re constantly grinding your teeth together, it can wear down your tooth enamel. Dental restorations like fillings, crowns — and in this case, dental veneers — will start to succumb to the excessive pressure as well. Broken dental work is extremely common.
If you know when you’re clenching your teeth, you can wear a protective nightguard or bite splint (depending on the time of the day) to avoid damage to cosmetic restorations. But a bit of detective work may be needed, first!
Adjacent Restorations (Like Crowns or Bridges)
Perhaps you’re planning to get dental veneers, but you have existing dental work in your “smile zone.” This situation presents two challenges. One is that ceramics are extremely difficult to match to already existing restorations. For a flawless color-match, it’s best that they’re made at the same time and in the same lab. So, placing veneers on the teeth next to your crown or bridge may cause your existing restoration to stand out more than it should. The other concern is that if you want your smile to look brighter than it already is, your intact dental work will need to be updated at the same time your veneer treatment is scheduled. If that’s already on your agenda, then it may not be an issue whatsoever.
Age Requirements for Porcelain Veneers
Although you’re never too old for dental veneers, Long Island teens will need to wait until their mouths are fully developed before investing in a permanent cosmetic procedure. Depending on your age and gender, this timeline will usually fall sometime after you graduate high school or college.
Porcelain Veneers Risk Factors
Are you involved in athletic activities where oral trauma is common? A sport like football or soccer may mean you want to think twice before getting veneers. That doesn’t mean you won’t qualify for them, but it does require extra steps to keep your smile healthy during recreational activities. Consider investing in a professionally fitted sports mouthguard to wear during workouts.
Talk to Our Long Island Dentists
Cosmetic porcelain veneers in Suffolk County can give you the smile you’ve always dreamed of. Request a consultation at Sachem Dental Group today.