What are veneers? What is their function?
Veneers are probably the most esthetic treatment that we can perform today for our patients in the dental office. It is a treatment increasingly demanded by the population, which basically consists of redesigning, modifying the smile tooth by tooth to create a new look much more pleasant, more harmonized with the face by applying a thin layer on the surface of the teeth affected, to create that overall smile that we all want and that is so pleasant.
It is a very conservative procedure that allows the tooth practically without being manipulated to get a new look that will satisfy that request for aesthetics that today’s society appreciates so much and that is so valued. The function of veneers is, therefore, to help us offer our patients those modifications, those adjustments, those possibilities to restore some of the problems that most commonly occur, for example:
- Unpleasant tooth colors
- Inappropriate positions
- Teeth with shapes that are not very harmonious or that are not satisfactory for the patient’s face.
The aim is to achieve a new smile by modifying those small details in each tooth that are perceived from the outside and without affecting its structure, without damaging it and without altering its chewing behavior in any way.
What types of veneers are there and which is the best option?
Veneers today can be manufactured with different procedures and different materials. The ever-increasing demand is allowing the different companies to offer us new resources and among them there are now some simpler materials available, with reasonable esthetic performance, which can be purchased already prefabricated and which we would adapt to each tooth. The problem with these materials is that we are not always going to have an alternative for each patient.
On the other hand, there is the best known and most satisfying solution for the patient, which is to individualize what each tooth needs through the use of ceramics or high-performance composite resins and thus build an overall smile that finally solves the defects or problems that the patient presents. This is undoubtedly the most satisfactory alternative and is currently the most demanded. Manufactured with ceramic, as I said, or with high performance composite resins.
When are veneers recommended?
Veneers are a treatment that has multiple indications and that in principle can be performed at any time throughout the patient’s life. It depends on what the patient needs. It may be a child who has broken teeth, which require a satisfactory aesthetic recomposition, or it may be an adolescent, it may be a middle-aged person. It will depend in any case on the patient’s demand, his esthetic aspiration and the underlying problem. This is probably the most important condition.
The different problems such as inappropriate color or shape, poorly arranged teeth, or even after orthodontic treatment, where they have recovered their position but still do not have the satisfactory appearance that we would like, that is the situation where veneers will bring us a special enhancement and will culminate that aesthetic aspiration of having a face illuminated by a beautiful smile. In principle they are versatile treatments that we can do at any time of life with this desirable result, easy to achieve, that will improve the appearance of each tooth and the teeth as a whole.
What kind of follow-up should be done during treatment with veneers?
Veneers are a restorative treatment that, in addition to modifying the appearance very satisfactorily and managing to solve most of the aesthetic problems that our patients complain about, have other advantages. The first is that the teeth need very little manipulation, which means that their useful life is very long, both that of the restoration and that of the tooth, that they do not affect possible future treatment needs for these teeth and that their maintenance is simple, the same as for a natural tooth, consisting of personal hygiene measures, brushing, flossing, etc., as indicated by the professional and by our hygienist.
And on the other hand, it is obligatory, as is logical, to follow up in the clinic the evolution of the teeth themselves, which in the end will be the sustenance, the support of the treatment and the material. A periodic visit to the dentist to see how it evolves and to carry out possible modifications, polishing or simply improving the conditions of the gum, may be enough for this treatment to give us long years of satisfaction and social success with a much more pleasant and harmonious smile.