What are Composite Veneers?
Dental veneers are a minimally invasive treatment technique that can change the way your smile looks. A veneer, also known as a laminate, is basically a thin tooth-colored shell which is bonded to the front surface of teeth, usually the upper front teeth that make up your smile. Dental veneers are a common part of “smile designing,” which uses aesthetic dentistry to enhance a smile. Veneers are indicated for a variety of conditions that mar an otherwise pleasing smile: small or uneven gaps among teeth, stained teeth, chipped or slightly overlapped teeth, being some common issues where veneers can help. A huge advantage of veneers is that, unlike dental crowns, veneers require extremely minimal reduction of the natural tooth structure in order to enable their bonding.
Dental composites are popular restorative materials that closely mimic the natural appearance of teeth. These are composite glass-based materials, which have evolved over years to composites with high strength, sheen and effective bonding. While veneers can be designed from ceramics and composites, composite veneers are much more cost-effective. A common misconception is that composite veneers will be much less durable and aesthetic than a ceramic veneer. While it does hold true that dental ceramics have higher strength, advances in composite technology have made composite veneering a durable and highly predictable aesthetic treatment modality.
Composite veneers can be constructed in two way–a direct and an indirect method. The right choice would depend on the number of teeth to be veneered, the extent to which the tooth anatomy needs to be modified, and your dentist’s skills in the procedure. Your dentist designs a direct composite veneer, by directly shaping composite material on to the prepared surface of a tooth and bonding it, thus completing within a single appointment. The indirect technique involves making models of your teeth that have been prepared to receive the veneers. These models are used to design and fabricate the veneers in a dental lab. Often your dentist can show you how the veneers will look by showing you a ‘waxed up’ model with mock veneers.
Composite veneers can give great results for a long time, and last up to a decade if they are well cared for. Care measures are simple and would involve avoiding habits that are likely to stain the composite material, like smoking or frequent cola or coffee drinking, and taking care not to bite heavily on the veneers. If dental veneers can help you achieve a more confident smile, but you’re concerned about the expense of ceramic veneers, composite veneers may be just the right fit when you get your dental veneers from Frisco!
