Dental porcelain veneers in FAQ

Have you had dental veneers and partial crowns mentioned to you by your dentist? London practitioner Hans Lock explains more. Dental porcelain veneers are partial crowns. Their advantages are so major that they should be preferred to crowns in the majority of all cases. A special type of dental porcelain veneers are called 'lumineers'. They are even thinner than the usual dental porcelain veneers and require no drilling at all. They are simply glued on the teeth - like false nails.

What are the Advantages of Dental Porcelain Veneers?

How good is the Colour and the Aesthetics of dental porcelain veneers?

It is occasionally possible to achieve a similarly perfect aesthetic result with crowns as with dental porcelain veneers. Colour, form, surface, individual characterization through internal and external staining, colour corrections during cementation with special cement colours, and the contact lens effect, which makes these restorations invisible - all these factors, lead to a perfect restoration.

What about durability and Tooth Conservation as a result of making dental porcelain veneers?

Ceramic dental porcelain veneers have high abrasion and color stability. With the new bonding methods, the risk of fracturing dental porcelain veneers is presumably smaller than that of metal or all-ceramic crowns.Only little tooth substance is removed (0.5-0.75 mm) during the preparation of the dental porcelain veneers.

What about the function of dental porcelain veneers?

Since the dental porcelain veneers themself are in most cases limited to the labial surface and the incisal part of the clinical crown, postoperative functional complications can also be avoided. Particularly in patients with deep bites, there is rarely sufficient space on the lingual side for conventional crown preparations. Also, lower front teeth can only in rare cases be treated with traditional crown techniques and be aesthetic, retain functionality, and simultaneously protect the pulp. Dental porcelain veneers are, therefore, far superior to dental crowns.

How strong are dental porcelain veneers?

The new generation of dentin adhesives and cementation materials makes it possible to extend the list of indications for dental porcelain veneers. It is no longer necessary that all cut margins are in the enamel. The strength of the bond of etched and silanized porcelain, adhesively bonded with the new era. The bond strength values of etched porcelain bonded with composite cement are as high as systems consisting of composites bonded to etched enamel. Furthermore, the coefficient of thermal expansion of the dental porcelain veneers is comparable with that of the natural tooth structure. No other restoration is as stable and durable. This is astonishing, because in the un-bonded condition, the dental porcelain veneers are very fragile. However, as soon as it is adhesively bonded to the tooth, it develops an extremely high tensile and flexural strength.

What are the disadvantages of Dental Porcelain Veneers?

What about irreversibility after making dental porcelain veneers?

Tooth substance must be removed. The dental porcelain veneers can not be tried-in and be cemented temporarily. If the dental veneers are put in and attached, it is not possible to correct it later. However, dental porcelain veneers can be removed (this is only possible through grinding) and replace it with new dental porcelain veneers or crowns. However - in certain cases dental porcelain veneers can be made without removing any enamel at all - very semilar to false nails.

What about the cost of dental porcelain veneers?

Placing dental porcelain veneers is a very demanding dental activity. For the ceramist in the laboratory, it is also a huge challenge again and again to accommodate colour, form, surface structure and individual characteristics on small areas. All this leads to relatively high costs of dental porcelain veneers.Please do not hesitate to call 0207 580 1001 or email the Mermaid Dental Clinic if you have any further questions.