Dental implants can make a smile look fabulous – I know I have them. However, if you are just thinking about getting them, you may have a lot of questions. You may be wondering how smoking affects implants, whether or not wine will stain them, if they can be whitened or other concerns. I also know from experience that it can be intimidating to ask some of these questions to your dentist. In my dental implant blog, I am going to answer the questions that can be hard to ask. I hope you find the info you need in this blog and that it guides you to the right decision about dental implants. Thanks for reading!
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3 Important Facts to Remember If You Are Considering Porcelain Veneers
Isobel Berry
A great way to boost the appeal of your smile is to invest in some porcelain veneers for your smile zone. Porcelain veneers can hide all tooth imperfections from stains to chips or cracks. And when made by a skilled ceramist, you won't be able to tell the difference between your natural teeth and your porcelain veneers.
But if you plan to get veneers, you need to first understand and accept several important facts.
1. Veneers can break, just like natural teeth
Porcelain is similar to enamel in terms of hardness and durability. This is why porcelain works so well with your natural teeth. And porcelain even looks very similar to enamel, which porcelain veneers are very difficult to tell apart from natural teeth.
But like enamel, porcelain can break in certain situations. For instance, porcelain veneers might crack, chip or snap if you regularly open packets with your teeth or chew on the ends of pens. If a porcelain veneer breaks, repair usually isn't an option unless the damage is very minor. If you break a porcelain veneer, your dentist will need to remove it and place a new veneer. This could be costly.
Be prepared to adjust your oral habits if you plan to get veneers. This will help to extend their lifespan.
2. Veneers require you to sacrifice some enamel
Porcelain veneers attach to teeth with a bonding material. This material along with the porcelain veneers themselves takes up space on your natural teeth. If a dentist simply placed porcelain veneers onto your teeth without removing any enamel, your teeth would look and feel bulky and unnatural. Thus, dentists make room for porcelain veneers by removing enamel from teeth.
This helps your veneers appear as natural as possible. But this also means that if you were to remove your veneers later for any reason, your teeth would be more sensitive due to their having less enamel. Therefore, remember that porcelain veneers are often a lifetime investment.
3. Veneers can stain along the edges
Porcelain is free of pores, which means that you won't stain them no matter what oral or eating habits you have. And if some surface stains occur, your dentist can easily polish those stains off. But this isn't so with the bonding material along the edges of veneers. This material will pick up permanent stains if you smoke or regularly expose your teeth to staining foods and drinks.
You may have to adjust your eating and oral habits to avoid staining your porcelain veneers along the margins. This will ensure that porcelain veneers look their best for as long as possible.
For more information, contact a cosmetic dentistry clinic today.
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