Sedation Clinics
If you are a patient looking for a life-changing experience, porcelain veneers may be your answer to getting the beautiful smile you have always dreamed of. Porcelain veneers can erase discolored, cracked, or worn-down teeth in only two short visits. The ultra-thin porcelain material allows your smile to be lifted to a new level while retaining your natural teeth.
Porcelain Veneers – Lexington, KY
Transform Your Smile in Just Two Appointments
Why Choose Dental Wellness of Lexington for Porcelain Veneers?
- Custom-made for every patient
- Able to eliminate multiple flaws at the same time
- Can easily last for 20 years or more.
What Are Porcelain Veneers?
Veneers are custom-made porcelain coverings that are fitted over the natural teeth to give you the gorgeous smile you have always wanted. Porcelain reflects light in the same manner as natural tooth structure and is stain resistant. Everyone will notice your beautiful smile for years to come!
What All Can Porcelain Veneers Fix?
Over the years, our team has used porcelain veneers to make all of these aesthetic imperfections disappear:
- Stains that don’t respond to bleaching
- Large chips
- Noticeable cracks
- Gaps (particularly between the front teeth)
- Teeth that appear too short
- Teeth that are oddly shaped
- Teeth that are undersized compared to the others
- Slightly crooked teeth
One of the best things about veneers is that they can be used to address all of these imperfections simultaneously. This helps patients achieve their goals without having to get multiple procedures, saving them both time and money along the way.
Why Lexington Loves Porcelain Veneers
When a person gets porcelain veneers, they instantly enjoy all of the following benefits:
- Increased confidence: Nothing makes you feel more ready to take on the world than knowing you have a gorgeous smile. Whether you’re going on a date or a job interview, you can trust that your teeth will make the right first impression every time.
- Improved oral health: That’s right – porcelain veneers can help someone beyond their appearance! The high quality of the materials used to make our veneers can actually strengthen the teeth once they are bonded into place. This can help stabilize a chipped or cracked tooth without having to get a full crown.
- Stain-proof: Unlike real enamel, the porcelain used for veneers isn’t porous, meaning it won’t stain due to repeated exposure to coffee, wine, tobacco, and other darkly colored foods/sauces. You can trust your veneers to remain pristinely white the entire time you have them!
What is the Procedure Like?
The veneers procedure consists of four phases that are typically completed over the course of two appointments. This approach ensures that our patients receive the absolute best care and are guaranteed to love their results.
Phase 1: Initial Consultation
Like all dental treatments, getting veneers will begin with you having a conversation with one of our dentists. During this appointment, you’ll have a chance to express what you would like to change about your smile, followed by a brief oral exam. Afterwards, they will go over all of the available treatment options. If you both decide that veneers would be the best way to get your desired results, they will move onto the next phase.
Phase 2: Preparation
After working side by side with your dentist to design your final results, they will begin preparing your teeth to fit the veneers. This will involve them removing a small portion of enamel in order to ensure the veneers lay flat against your teeth and look natural. How much will they remove? Only about 2mm, which is roughly the thickness of a contact lens. They’ll then take an impression of your teeth that will be sent to a dental lab to fabricate your veneers. Our practice only works with US-based labs that use the finest materials, unlike other offices who send their lab work to foreign countries where materials like lead and mercury are unregulated.
Before you leave, you’ll be fitted with a set of temporary veneers so you can “test drive” your new smile. If time allows, this can all be completed at your initial consultation appointment.
Phase 3: Test Drive
While your veneers are being made, you’ll get to live your life with your new smile and see how you like it. Take note of any changes you’d like to make. You’ll also have a chance to see what your friends and family think so that when you get your final veneers, you can be sure everybody will love your new smile.
Phase 4: Placement
After a week or so, you’ll return to Dental Wellness of Lexington so your dentist can remove your temporaries and bond your permanent veneers into place. They’ll then perform one last check of their fit and your bite, and once that’s over, you’re done! Your new smile is officially ready for the world.
Taking Care of Your Veneers
After investing in veneers, you certainly want them to last for as long as possible. Fortunately, taking care of them doesn’t involve some intricate routine. A few simple habits will ensure your brand-new smile shines for decades to come:
- The most important thing is to brush and floss them like your normal teeth. While the porcelain itself can’t develop a cavity, the underlying tooth still can. Maintaining your oral hygiene will ensure both your veneers and your teeth stay in good shape.
- Do you grind your teeth when you sleep? If so, your dentist may suggest that you wear a nightguard to bed. This will protect your veneers from being exposed to pressure that could eventually crack them.
- Do you regularly play sports? Be sure to wear a mouthguard every time to keep your veneers safe from unexpected impacts.
- It’s also essential that you attend routine checkups at Dental Wellness of Lexington. This will give your dentist the chance to examine your veneers on a regular basis so they can spot and fix any minor problems as soon as they pop up. Should you experience any issues between appointments, you can always give them a call as well.
With these habits, your veneers will easily look great and last for 20 years or more!
Understanding the Cost of Veneers
When you visit our office to ask about veneers, one of the things we’ll need to discuss is how much the treatment will cost. For many people, the often-dazzling improvements to their grins are well worth the investment. That being said, though, veneers are not your only option when it comes to cosmetic dentistry; before you make a final decision, you should compare the benefits and costs of the available options to see which one best fits your goals and budget.
Cost vs. Cosmetic Dentistry: What's Right for Me?
There’s a lot to consider when looking at cosmetic dental treatments, but here are the basics regarding what our practice has to offer:
Invisalign
For patients with crooked or crowded teeth, Invisalign is often worth considering. But while clear aligners are very useful for correcting alignment issues, they can’t be used to recolor or change the shape of your teeth. Furthermore, it will generally take a very long time to get the results you have in mind.
Teeth Whitening
Unsightly tooth stains can be dealt with quickly thanks to teeth whitening. The amount you pay can vary depending on the type of whitening you get, but it will generally cost less than Invisalign. However, since it has no effect on the shape or position of teeth, it can only really be used to change the shade of your smile.
Direct Bonding
If you want the cheapest cosmetic option available, direct bonding is often the treatment of choice. It’s useful for fixing many different kinds of imperfections, particularly when it comes to hiding damaged areas on the tooth. But while the price is low and the treatment can often be completed quickly, the results aren’t as long-lived as other options. (That said, follow-up treatments can be performed if necessary.)
Veneers
Veneers are made out of high-quality materials, which means they tend to cost more than teeth whitening or direct bonding. However, compared to whitening, veneers are much more versatile and give you a way to make multiple changes to your smile with a single treatment. Additionally, they tend to last much longer than direct bonding. In fact, some veneers have lifespans in the range of 15 to 20 years.
How to Make Veneers Affordable
Insurance usually isn’t an option for paying for veneers. Generally speaking, insurance companies only provide coverage for treatments that help protect or restore oral health; that means they likely won’t pay for veneers that are being placed for cosmetic purposes alone.
On the other hand, you can still manage the costs associated with veneers and other elective services by applying for financing from CareCredit or Lending Club. Thanks to financing, it will be easier to find room in your budget for your treatment because the overall cost will be divided into smaller monthly payments.
Porcelain Veneer FAQs
Is the one thing holding you back from scheduling an initial consultation for porcelain veneers in Lexington the fact that you still have unanswered questions about the treatment? Our team is here to provide you with all of the information you need to feel confident and comfortable making a decision about getting porcelain veneers, so please feel free to give us a call if you don’t find the answers you’re looking for below.
Are porcelain veneers permanent?
Because veneers need to be replaced every so often, they’re not considered permanent. However, they do require altering your natural teeth, which is irreversible. Once you get porcelain veneers, you’ll need to have them for the rest of your life. Fortunately, they can last for multiple decades with the proper care, so many patients don’t need to get them replaced many times throughout their life.
Is there anything I can’t eat with veneers?
Before your permanent veneers are placed, you’ll wear temporary ones that won’t be as durable or stable. During this period of the treatment, you’ll need to avoid hard and excessively chewy foods, like raw fruits and vegetables, that could break your temporary restorations.
Once your permanent veneers are placed by your cosmetic dentist in Lexington, you’ll be able to eat most of the foods that you normally would, but in order to preserve them and extend their lifespan, it’s a good idea to avoid ones that could stain them over time or damage them, like hard candies. It’s also a good idea to drink alcohol in moderation, because it can weaken the bonding material holding the veneers to your teeth.
Can you whiten veneers?
You can’t whiten veneers because they’re made from dental porcelain, which is a non-porous material. Because of this, it also takes longer for them to become discolored because they’re able to resist staining better than your natural teeth, so you can count on them preserving their bright, new appearance for longer.
Can veneers widen my smile?
A study published by the University of Minnesota found that wider-looking smiles are considered more attractive because asymmetrical teeth are more balanced by the overall frame and shape of the smile. If you feel that your smile is too narrow, veneers may be a great way to help achieve the look that you’re wanting. They can be placed over the visible surface of teeth to widen an arch without needing to undergo orthodontic treatment that could take years.