Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain veneers are a beautiful way to enhance and completely change the look of your teeth with minimal preparation to your tooth structure.

We can place a single veneer to cover just one tooth, or several veneers, depending on what you need and want.

If you’re looking to improve the entire appearance of your teeth, we typically recommend six to eight veneers so that all visible teeth are similar in size, shape, length, and color.

Just as with cosmetic crowns, veneers require artistry and skill on the dentist’s part along with an excellent high-quality lab and materials.

We pride ourselves on creating beautiful, natural-looking results with veneers that fit the proportions and dimensions of your mouth and face and blend in with your natural teeth.

What Is a Porcelain Veneer?

A cosmetic veneer is a wafer-thin, custom-made piece of porcelain designed to cover the front surface of your tooth. The porcelain is color-matched to your natural tooth shade and the veneer is bonded to your tooth to change the color, shape, size, or length. Since porcelain looks similar to natural tooth enamel, veneers look beautiful and realistic when properly made.

Why a Veneer?

Porcelain Veneers before and after photoVeneers are an excellent long-term cosmetic solution for teeth that are badly stained, chipped, have minor cracks or indentions, have small gaps between them, are misshapen, or have minor misalignment.

They’re considered a more conservative treatment than crowns because less tooth structure is removed during the preparation process. Typically, only a thin layer of enamel from the front of the tooth is removed leaving the core and back of the tooth untouched.

The Procedure

Even though veneers involve the removal of less tooth structure, the process itself is more tedious and precise in the preparation, design, and placement, which is why veneers tend to be more expensive than cosmetic crowns.

The veneer procedure itself can require a number of appointments depending on how many teeth are involved.

Appointments 1: Decisions

Once we have evaluated your teeth to ensure that veneers are right for you, we’ll discuss and agree on what you want aesthetically, how many teeth will be involved, and what shade will work best for you.

  • If you desire whiter teeth, we’ll first recommend an in-office Zoom WhiteSpeed session to bring your natural teeth to their lightest possible shade.
  • We may take an impression of your mouth for a diagnostic model and have our lab fabricate a “wax-up” of how your new teeth will look.
  • We may also have our lab fabricate custom provisional (temporary) veneers. Unlike provisional crowns for a multi-tooth procedure, temporary veneers cannot be splinted together and are placed individually on your teeth after preparation.

Appointment 2: Preparation

Your next appointment will be to have your teeth “prepped.” This appointment typically takes the most time—a minimum of two hours—and is when we carefully prepare and shape your natural teeth to fit your new cosmetic veneers.

If we’ve made provisional veneers, you’ll leave wearing those, which will give you an idea of how your new teeth will look.

Appointment 3: New Veneers, New Smile!

  • Once your veneers have been custom fabricated by our lab—typically about two weeks after your prep appointment—we will place them individually on your teeth with temporary bonding material to confirm that you are happy with the size, shape, color, and fit. Any changes in fit, size, shape, and color are critical to decide during this appointment before your veneers are placed permanently. We want you to be thrilled with your new and improved smile!
  • Because veneers are fragile, we’ll want you to wear a custom night guard to protect your teeth while sleeping. Our lab will fabricate your custom-designed night guard to fit over your beautiful new veneers.

After Care

You’ve made a lasting and worthwhile investment in yourself and we want you to take good care of your new smile!

Why We Say No to No-Prep Veneers

You may have heard of a procedure called “no-prep veneers,” meaning the veneers are bonded to your teeth without removing tooth structure. The most widely marketed brand is Lumineers. We love nearly everything about modern dentistry but we are not impressed with the trend in no-prep veneers.

In our opinion, no-prep veneers look artificial because they add a layer of bulk to your teeth, especially visible upon profile, and they often show distinct ledges where the top of the veneer should blend seamlessly into the natural tooth. Additionally, they are known to cause inflammation and other issues at the gum line.

When it comes to your teeth, we believe in taking the necessary time, steps, and materials to produce a truly natural-looking and beautiful result that will last for many years!