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Everything You Wanted to Know About Dental Veneer Treatment

Posted on: February 10th, 2023 | Categories: Cosmetic Dentistry, Dental Veneers

If you’re looking for a dentist that does dental veneers or are in the process of deciding if you should get veneers, this article about dental veneer treatment can help you communicate confidently about dental veneers with your dentist.

Preparing the Teeth for Dental Veneers

Before dental veneers can be placed, a layer of the tooth’s enamel (the top layer of the tooth) has to be removed. This ensures that the dental veneers are placed evenly and have a solid base to be placed on. Here are the steps your cosmetic dentist may take in order to prepare your teeth for dental veneers:

  1. Before the dentists starts cutting or shaving back the enamel, they will treat you with a local anesthetic in order to ensure that the dental veneer treatment is painless.
  2. The dentist will then start by shaving off some enamel on the front-facing part of the tooth. This preparation is very delicate, with only fractions of a millimeter being removed from the enamel. An experienced cosmetic dentist will know how much enamel to remove, accounting for areas of the tooth where enamel is thinner. The goal here is to get an even surface while not exposing the dentin (the slightly softer part of the tooth under the enamel) since exposed dentin can lead to tooth sensitivity.
  3. Dental veneers can even be used to straighten teeth that are very mildly crooked, since removing just the right amount of enamel from each tooth can make an even surface across teeth. Most crooked teeth will require orthodontics like Invisalign, however
  4. Next, the sides of the teeth and biting surface of the tooth are also prepared. This allows the dental veneer to encase the prepared tooth from all sides but the back, making veneer placement predictable, more secure, and esthetically pleasing.

Taking Impressions for Dental Veneer Treatment

After the teeth are cut down to the desired shape, the dentist cleans out any debris and takes an impression of the current situation in the mouth. The impression will include the newly shaped teeth and the gums so that the dental lab can create perfectly matching custom dental veneers.

Placing the Temporary Veneers

  1. In addition to using the impression to create a model to send to the lab, the dentist will use the dental impressions to create the temporary dental veneers that the patient will walk out of the dental office with. These temporary veneers are not as durable as the final product, but they are a good cosmetic dental solution until the lab finishes making the dental veneers.
  2. These temporary dental veneers are cemented onto the tooth with a simple adhesive that will make removal of the temporary veneers easy when it comes time for the final dental veneer procedure.
  3. Once in place, the temporaries are polished to ensure a good aesthetic appearance.

Placing the Dental Veneers

Once the dental lab delivers the final, custom-made, dental veneers, the dental office will schedule the patient for an appointment with the cosmetic dentist in order to place the veneers. Here are the steps the dentist will take for the final procedure:

  1. The first thing the dentist will do, even before a patient is scheduled to come in, is test the veneers that the lab has sent over on the model that they created from the impression of the patient’s mouth in order to ensure they fit properly.
  2. The patient then comes in for their appointment and a local anesthetic is administered.
  3. The temporary veneers are removed and the teeth are cleaned of any residue.
  4. The dental veneers are then tried in on the patient’s teeth to ensure a good fit.
  5. Next, an acid is used to etch the surface of the tooth, roughening it up so that the adhesive has a better grip, ensuring the veneer doesn’t come off.
  6. The veneers are then cemented onto the teeth and a curing light is shone onto the veneers in order to help the cement harden and excess cement is removed.
  7. Finally, all the surfaces are polished to make sure the surfaces are smooth and have a nice sheen.

With that, the treatment is complete and the patient has a brand new smile.

We hope you found this article to be informative and helpful in empowering you to communicate to your cosmetic dentist about dental veneers in a clear way.

If you are interested in one of the cosmetic dentists at Dental Town DC doing your dental veneer treatment, we’d be happy to schedule you for a cosmetic dentistry consultation.

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