Porcelain veneers, Raleigh
Porcelain veneers, matched by hand, worn as a trial first.
A veneer is a thin layer of porcelain bonded to the front of a tooth to change its shape, length or colour. Done well, nobody can tell. Done to the wrong tooth, it is a regret that cannot be undone, which is why this page starts with who should not have one.
At Larkspur the planned smile is worn as a trial for about a week before any tooth is prepared, the porcelain is made by a ceramist in this building, and the quote is written tooth by tooth before you decide anything. Results vary.
- Who is not a candidate, stated first
- The trial smile worn for about a week before any tooth is prepared
- Shade matched by daylight with Anders Lund, dental ceramist, in the room
- Minimal preparation, and no preparation where the case allows
- A written plan, tooth by tooth, handed over at the consultation
Or call (919) 555-0137 Monday to Thursday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Friday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm
Who this is not for
Veneers are the wrong answer for some of the people who ask for them.
We would rather lose the case than place porcelain on a tooth that did not need it. These are the reasons we say no, or not yet.
Not for
Gum disease that is not under control
Porcelain sits at the gum line and only looks right on healthy gums. Keisha treats the gums first and the veneers wait, sometimes for months.
Heavy grinding without a guard
Porcelain chips under a clenching bite. A night guard becomes part of the plan, or the plan changes to bonding, which is easier to repair.
A tooth that only needs whitening or bonding
One dark tooth, a small chip, a short edge. Most of these are whitening or bonding cases, and we send you to that page instead.
Wanting pure white over very dark enamel
Dark enamel shows through thin porcelain. The honest options are a thicker veneer, a crown, or a different expectation. We talk about that before anything else.
Good for
A chip, a worn edge, a short tooth
Shape and length can be rebuilt in porcelain where bonding would be too thin to last.
Staining that whitening will not move
Tetracycline marks and deep colour sit below the enamel and do not bleach. Porcelain covers them.
Small gaps and slightly uneven front teeth
Where the teeth are sound and aligners would take a year for a small change. Where they are not sound, aligners first.
Old veneers or bonding that have discoloured
Replacement is planned the same way as a first case, with a trial smile.
Why dentists discourage veneers
Why some dentists talk you out of veneers, and why we often agree.
You may have read that dentists discourage veneers. Three reasons come up, and all three are fair.
The first is that they are irreversible. A porcelain veneer needs some enamel removed in most cases, and enamel does not grow back. The second is that they are sometimes sold to people who only needed whitening or bonding, because ten veneers earn more than four. The third is that they will need replacing one day, so a veneer at thirty is a commitment to another at fifty.
Our answer is the way the work is planned: candidacy first, the smaller option first, the trial smile worn before any tooth is prepared, and as little enamel removed as the case allows. If, after all that, you still want them and they still suit you, they are a good treatment.
The words, explained once
What is actually done to the tooth.
Veneer
A thin layer of porcelain, often under half a millimetre, bonded to the front face of a tooth. It changes shape, length and colour. It does not move a tooth.
Preparation
The amount of enamel removed so the veneer sits flush. Minimal preparation means a few tenths of a millimetre. We prepare as little as the case allows, and we say minimal, not none, in most cases.
No-prep veneers
Veneers placed with no enamel removed. They suit teeth that are small, set back or spaced, and few others. Where they fit the case, they are reversible in principle and we offer them.
Enamel
The hard outer layer of the tooth. The whole plan is built around keeping as much of it as possible, because it is the part that cannot come back.
Shade
The colour of the porcelain, chosen at the window against your skin and your neighbouring teeth, with Anders in the room. Daylight, not the lamp.
Bite
How the upper and lower teeth meet. A veneer that catches the bite chips. We check it on the trial smile, which is one reason the trial exists.
The trial smile
You wear the smile for about a week before any tooth is prepared.
The plan is made in wax on a model of your mouth, then copied onto your own teeth as a temporary mock-up with no drilling. You wear it for about a week, in daylight and in photographs, then come back and tell us what to change. We change the mock-up, not your teeth.
The full process, including what the trial can and cannot show, is on the smile makeover page.
The ceramics
Made on the bench in this building by Anders, who you will meet.
Anders Lund is a dental ceramist with a bench and a kiln through the door behind reception. He sits in on the shade appointment, layers each veneer by hand in porcelain powders, and fires it here. If a trial or a final veneer needs adjusting, he does it while you wait rather than sending it away by courier.
This is slower than milling, and it is why the surface has the slight translucency and texture of enamel instead of a flat white.
How long they last
Many years with care. None last forever.
We do not promise a number, because the number depends on you as much as on the porcelain. Results vary.
What wears them
Grinding and clenching, biting nails or ice, gum recession that exposes the edge, and the ordinary wear of decades.
What we do about it
A night guard where there is any sign of grinding, a bite checked on the trial smile, edges polished so they stay clean, and Keisha on the maintenance visits.
What happens one day
A veneer that chips or loses its edge is replaced. The tooth under it, prepared once, is prepared very little again. This is the cost of veneers over a lifetime and we say it at the consultation.
Maintenance
Hygiene visits with Keisha as for any teeth, a non-abrasive paste, and a call if anything feels different. Most repairs are small if they are early.
Not sure whether you are a veneer case or a bonding case? Call and describe the tooth. Priya will tell you which consultation to book, or that you do not need one yet.
(919) 555-0137Monday to Thursday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Friday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm
The written plan
Tooth by tooth, with the fee for the whole smile, before you decide.
At the end of the consultation Priya hands you a written plan: each tooth, what is proposed for it (veneer, bonding, whitening, nothing), the number of visits, what is included, what is not, and the fee for the whole smile. You take it home. Nothing is booked at the desk.
How that quote is built, and what changes it, is on the veneers cost page.
Before you book
Questions people ask about veneers before they book.
Anything else, call (919) 555-0137. Priya answers.
What disqualifies you from getting veneers?
Active gum disease, untreated decay, heavy grinding without a guard, too little enamel to bond to, a bite that would chip the porcelain, or a problem that whitening or bonding would fix. Most of these are "not yet" rather than "never", and we say which at the consultation.
Do veneers ruin your natural teeth?
They change them. In most cases a few tenths of a millimetre of enamel is removed, and that tooth will always need a veneer or a crown afterwards. They do not cause decay by themselves; decay happens at the edges when the edges are not kept clean. The trial smile, minimal preparation and the maintenance visits exist because of this question.
What is the difference between no-prep and traditional veneers?
No-prep veneers are bonded with no enamel removed, so they add thickness and suit teeth that are small, set back or spaced. Traditional veneers replace a thin layer of enamel with porcelain, so they can change shape more and sit flush. We use no-prep where it fits and say minimal-prep, not no-prep, in most other cases.
How many veneers do I need?
As few as the smile needs. Some cases are two teeth; some are the eight or ten that show when you smile widely; some are four veneers and two bonded edges. The trial smile is how we find out together, and the written plan lists each tooth.
Can veneers be done in one visit?
Not here. A same-day veneer is milled from a block and shaded under a lamp. Ours are planned in wax, worn as a trial, matched by daylight and layered by hand on the bench, which takes several visits over a few weeks. Bonding is the one-visit option, and for many teeth it is the better one.
Next step
Wear the smile before you decide on it.
Book a consultation. You leave with a tooth-by-tooth plan in writing, and the first thing we make is the trial, not the veneer.