Looking After Porcelain Dental Veneers

Maintaining your brand new smile!

Although the first stop for most people who want to improve the colour of their teeth is to look at having a teeth whitening procedure, this may not be the most appropriate treatment where discolouration is significant or where the teeth have flaws such as small chips or cracks in them. In many cases, our Burton cosmetic dentists are likely to recommend the fitting of porcelain dental veneers in this situation.

Unlike a teeth whitening procedure, veneers actually replace a fine layer of the affected tooth enamel, rather than attempting to change it. This does require treatment to remove a fine layer of tooth enamel before replacing it with the new veneer. Patients shouldn’t be deterred by this though and, once fitted, veneers are an excellent way of having great looking teeth. More good news is that they can also last for approximately ten years before they need to be replaced, providing that they are looked after correctly. Aftercare advice is the subject of today’s Mike Allen’s Dental Practice blog.

Fitting veneers

In a nutshell, veneers are fitted by removing a fine layer of enamel from the front of the tooth after which impressions are taken. The impressions are sent away to a dental laboratory where the new veneers are produced. On their return to our Burton practice, they are attached to the teeth using a strong dental adhesive and then trimmed and polished to leave you with a great looking smile.

Aftercare

One ‘trap’ that a few people might fall into is that because veneers are made from an artificial material and won’t decay, they may let their oral care slip a little. This would be a big mistake. Although it is true that the porcelain won’t decay and is highly stain resistant, meaning it should maintain its whiteness for a very long time, poor oral care can result in some surface staining, but more importantly, can also result in neglect of the natural tooth that the veneer is attached to.

Because of this, it is important that you treat your veneer fitted tooth exactly as you should any of your other teeth. In fact, having them fitted could be a good opportunity to examine whether you are doing sufficient to ensure good oral health at the moment. It makes sense, of course, to brush the surface of the new veneer as although it is stain resistant, foodstuffs can still stick to it. Even more importantly, you should take good care to clean ALL of the tooth and whilst the veneer may not decay, the rest of the tooth can. If you fail to do this, including flossing, then there is a real risk of the tooth needing treatment or even breaking away. Either of these situations could mean that the veneer will then not be attached as securely and may be more prone to coming away from the tooth.

Gum disease

One important thing to mention here is that it is not just your teeth that should be cleaned, but your gums too. Although gum disease may not directly affect the veneer itself in the same way as it could a dental implant, it can, if not managed correctly, lead to the tooth becoming unstable and it may even fall out. Please be sure to pay attention to your gums when you clean your teeth and also floss regularly.

Veneer detachment

This is an issue that is sometimes mentioned by patients when we are discussing them having this treatment. The fact is that although they CAN become detached, they rarely do so if you take just a little care. The first part, as above, is to clean them correctly so that the rest of the tooth is healthy, but there are a few things that can increase the risk of them becoming detached; most of these are simply habits which may need to be broken.

One of the most common ways that this happens is when people use their new veneers to bite things that our teeth are not designed for. One of the most obvious of these is our fingernails. It is not the only one though and chewing pens or pencils, opening crisp packets with our teeth and even ice chewing may also cause them to become detached.

As mentioned earlier, your new veneers can last for around ten years if you look after them well. It may be the case that the adhesive loses some of its strength towards the end of that time, making them more likely to become detached if abused. When your veneer needs replacing, you should need no further invasive treatment providing that the remaining tooth is healthy and the tooth will simply need to be cleaned of the old adhesive and your new veneer attached to replace the old one.

One word of caution here. In the rare event of a veneer becoming detached, under no circumstances should you attempt to reattach it yourself. Unfortunately, some people have tried this using household adhesives. These can damage the natural tooth and cause the veneer to fall off. If this should happen to you, please contact us straight away.

If you would like to find out more about our porcelain veneers or if you already have them and would like some further aftercare advice, we are always happy to help. To make an appointment to see one of our team, please call Mike Allen’s Dental Practice on 01283 845345.