Do porcelain veneers stain?
No, high quality porcelain veneers do not stain deeply. They can get surface stains that are easily polished off when the teeth are cleaned. But, if the porcelain veneer is porous, or contains resin, the veneer itself will discolor over time and stain deeply. My office only offers the best porcelain and the best ceramist in order to provide porcelain veneer that can last as long as possible.
Can composite resin bonded teeth have porcelain veneers?
Yes but you have to remove all of the resin bonded material before the impression is taken. All of the resin must be removed and only tooth enamel is remaining. The dentist must use magnification dentistry to remove the resin bonding material in order to preserve the patient’s tooth structure. The dentist could damage the teeth without high magnification during the resin removal.
Can 14 year olds get porcelain veneers?
Yes, 14 year olds can get porcelain veneers but it would be best to make sure that there is very little to no grinding on the natural teeth. Additionally, the bite of the younger patients should be corrected as the porcelain veneers are being made. Porcelain veneers can be a huge improvement for younger patients as their self esteem is so important.
Younger people with crooked, yellow teeth have more negative behavior that younger people with nice looking teeth. There are no health disadvantages if the porcelain veneers and done by a highly experienced and skilled dentist. The most important part of treating younger patients is the type of porcelain being used. There are many different types of porcelain that are made cheaply and will not last nearly as long and hold their color nearly as long as high quality porcelain, a skilled ceramist and an experienced, artistically and technically skilled dentist
How expensive are porcelain veneers?
There are many different types of porcelain veneers that are marketed today and there are also many dental ceramists that have a wide range of skills. You may pick the right material but the ceramist doesn’t give good quality. You can pick the best dental ceramist but the wrong type of porcelain veneer for the patient. The result is fake looking teeth.
I have found that in my office, I work with one dental ceramist and he and I work together on every patient. I actually work on the porcelain myself and both of us discuss the type of porcelain that would work best on each patient. Sometimes I need to bring him into the office to see the patient personally in order for both of us to pick the porcelain and decide how to prepare that teeth to utilize the best characteristics of the type of porcelain that we chose to use. It all depends on the color of the patient teeth, the size of the teeth, the patient bite and the patients expectations on how natural and how white they want their teeth to appear. Some types of porcelain are better for hiding dark teeth and other types of porcelain transfer light for a clean natural look.
How much of my teeth should be ground down prior to porcelain veneers?
In the most ideal situation, no tooth structure is removed. The porcelain veneer is bonding to the patient’s tooth enamel. All of the tooth structure is saved and in fact, the porcelain veneer actually protects the patients natural tooth structure for many years. Imagine aging 30 years and visualizing how your teeth could look. Over 30 years, teeth wear down, the enamel turns yellow, and the tooth structure gets thinner and chips. All of this tooth wear is eliminated with porcelain veneers protecting the patient teeth. The porcelain veneer takes the 30 year of wear and abuse.
Sometimes it is indicated to remove some of the patients tooth structure if the teeth are crooked. Porcelain veneers can provide instant braces in just 2 weeks. The patient can have straight white teeth in just two weeks but some minor amounts of tooth structure are removed.
Dr Sam, what is the life expectancy of porcelain venners? My doctor claims that unless I get the best quality I may have to replace them after 5 or 10 years.
The two most important factors that determine how long porcelain veneers last are the bonding technique used by the dentist and the skill level of the dentist. There are many different dental bonding kits by each manufacturer and there are many different manufacturers and there are many combinations of materials in the kits. Additionally there are over 7 generations of dental bonding materials kits that have been developed that add even more confusion as dentists try to keep up with the new products.
Unfortunately, most of the new products were designed to save the dentist time and sacrificed bonding strength. The newest products are actually weaker than the first generation bonding materials. The dentist finds that his or her porcelain veneers do not last because they don’t know that the material they are using is weak.
The technique used by the dentist has to be meticulously perfect. Dental bonding is either perfect or it fails. In my dental office, we see more and more patients that just had porcelain veneers placed that keep falling off. These patient are frustrated and angry. Their dentist may not have good enough technique skills and/or may be using inferior dental bonding materials. After successfully bonding porcelain veneers for over 25 years, my oldest porcelain veneer case lasted 26 years before the patient passed away. Not one porcelain veneer broke off or chipped during the 25 years. My best advice is to pick the experienced dentist, because they are worth it.
Dr. Sam, how long should porcelain veneers last? I’ve had mine for 4 months and now the one has cracked. My dentist said this is normal and is prepared to replace it free of charge but said he would have to make it thicker to prevent the problem from happening again. I read Sama’s bad porcelain veneers story on your website and I am worried about my teeth becoming too bulky. Are there thin veneers that are stronger than others?
Porcelain veneers can last for over 25 years without at chip or a crack. Your dentist is willing to replace it and that is an honorable gesture. I am not convinced that making it thicker will make it last longer because a well bonded porcelain veneer is very strong.
It would be better if the dentist could try it again with minimal grinding of your natural tooth. Perhaps this time, more attention to detail could keep the porcelain veneer from cracking rather than grinding down good tooth structure unnecessarily.
Dr Sam, after many years I decided to have something done about my chipped front teeth. The solution offered was to place 4 porcelain veneers on my front teeth. This looked great – but after two weeks I woke up one morning and found the one veneer fell off. Then a few days alter I discovered a hairline crack in another veneer. I went back to my dentist who then told me that my teeth grinding is too severe and that he should rather place crowns over my teeth. Do you think this is the right solution?
It would be a shame to have your four front teeth ground down for crowns just because your front teeth were chipped. The dentist should have known that you grind your teeth before he or she recommended porcelain veneers. If the dentist knew in advance, then the design of the porcelain veneers could be such that they do not break.
Additionally, there is a huge difference in the dental bonding skills between dentists. They all may have good intentions, but some dentists are better skilled than others and it makes a big difference in how long your porcelain veneers will last.
Dr. Muslin, my family dentist convinced me that porcelain veneers were the best solution to cover my dark teeth. At first it looked OK but now my porcelain veneers look grey and dull. Do I need to have them whitened or bleached? How can this be fixed?
Porcelain Veneers can be made with different thickness. The thickness of the porcelain veneer is the critical component in hiding the color of your teeth. The ability of the porcelain veneer to hide dark tooth color is related to the thickness of the porcelain and the bonding technique of the dentist. Sometimes the material or the technique used by the dentist causes the color to turn grey. Sometimes the dentist did not have the lab add enough opacity to hide the color. Other times the dentist did not help the lab understand how much of a color change he or she hopes to achieve. The bonding skill and the cosmetic dentistry skill of the dentist is very important in determining how color stable your porcelain veneers will be. There is a huge difference in the skills of cosmetic dentists. I realize that patients think dentists are all licensed and trained the same but the training and the ability of the cosmetic dentist varies wildly.
Sometimes if the color of the veneers turns grey you can bleach the teeth but this is not permanent. You will have to continue bleaching your teeth for the rest of your life and that may not be a good idea. You also mentioned the porcelain veneers were dull. The material used may not be real porcelain but some hybrid form of porcelain that is cheaper to make and easier for the dentist to bond. There is a large difference in the types of porcelain used for the porcelain veneers. The types of porcelains utalized, the cosmetic skills of the dentist, the technical bonding skills of the dentist and the diagnostic skills are critical to achieve results that look natural and last for many years.
Caution! The dentist you choose makes all of the difference between good and bad porcelain veneers. Ask to see one of the dentists patients, ask to talk to one of their patients but the best way is to see a lot of photographs with clear before and after images of the patients including full face views and close up views. Don’t fall for website gimmicks. Don’t fall for miss matched photos that do not allow you to compare results. Don’t fall for a slick website with bad before and after photos. Choose carefully because you will be wearing the porcelain veneers for a very long time.
Dr. Sam, I’ve had porcelain veneers on my front teeth for 6 months. Last month one of them cracked and had to be replaced. I was a bit shocked that it only lasted for 6 months – but this is not my question. My dentist then replaced the cracked veneer, but the color is different and it seems to be quite a bit thicker than the others. My dentist says this is my imagination and that I should allow some time to get used to it. This sounds wrong to me – what do you think?
Without even seeing your teeth the odds greatly favor that you are right. If can be difficult to match the porcelain veneers if the dentist did not write down the shade of the bonding material. Additionally, manufacturers do not keep making the same materials as the word “new” seems to sell products. The dentists can find themselves in a difficult situation, trying to match one tooth to all of the other teeth without the same material available.
The best cosmetic dentists in Los Angeles have a large inventory of different materials and they also have the skills to know which one would be the best. See Josh for a great example of matching only two porcelain veneers to this patient’s natural teeth. It is very difficult to match shade shape and opacity when bonding only two porcelain veneers but it also can done. Josh has had his two porcelain veneers for nearly 8 years and they still match perfectly.
You also mentioned the shape was too thick and you are surely right because the patient has a much better feel inside their mouth and can tell if there are any discrepancies. Considering that one of the porcelain veneers broke in only six months and the dentist could not match the shade nor the shape when trying to replace the veneer, it sounds to me you chose the wrong dentist. Maybe it is time to move up a few levels as you now understand how uncomfortable and irritating bad porcelain veneers can be.
Contact Sam Muslin DDS MAGD, Santa Monica, California at (310) 829-6796
Dr. Sam Muslin received the 2009 "Best Cosmetic Dentist in Los Angeles" award from LAs Best, featured in the Los Angeles TImes.