Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain veneers are thin wafers of porcelain no thicker than a fingernail that a cosmetic dentist will bond to your tooth to give the tooth a whole new appearance.

Porcelain veneers, also called dental veneers or porcelain laminates, are most elegant and the most versatile way to improve your smile. They can change the color, spacing, alignment, length, or shape of your teeth. This page will give you information about what porcelain veneers can do for you and will describe the techniques cosmetic dentists use to place them.

However, there is a word of caution in order for the consumer here. The proper placing of porcelain veneers, or dental veneers, in our opinion, requires extensive additional training beyond dental school. And, since cosmetic dentistry is not a legally recognized specialty, any general dentist can legally announce that he or she is a "cosmetic dentist," and can hold himself or herself out as fully qualified to place porcelain veneers. We have heard many stories of patients who have been sorely disappointed with the results of smile makeovers performed by general dentists. At mynewsmile.com we recommend that any patient who wants porcelain veneers only go to a dentist with extensive post-graduate training in cosmetic dentistry and demonstrated artistic ability. Besides special bonding techniques that are required, the sophisticated color manipulation, smile design, and artistry required to do these properly are not required training of general dentists, and the creativity and sensitivity required can even be foreign to the personality styles of many dentists.

If you feel a need to make some improvement in your smile, it may help you to know that you are not alone. While an attractive smile is widely viewed as a social and business asset, is it interesting to note that half of all Americans are unhappy with their smiles. This is according to a survey commissioned by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. If you need a whole new smile, porcelain veneers are the way to go. Porcelain veneers are the most beautiful restorations made in dentistry today. Nothing exceeds porcelain for life-like beauty. It mimics natural teeth in color, translucency, and surface texture. In addition, its very high resistance to wear makes it very long-lasting. It does not discolor, even after many years.

With porcelain veneers, you can have the smile you want. The teeth can be re-shaped and re-colored with a great deal of artistic latitude. There are limitations, which your cosmetic dentist will share with you as far as your individual case is concerned, but the results are fairly predictable. The amount of whiteness you want can be incorporated into the porcelain, up to the limits of the material. If you want teeth that are as white, radiant, healthy-looking and straight as possible, porcelain veneers are the ultimate.

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