If you’re unhappy with how your smile looks, you may have looked into dental veneers. Dental veneers are able to give you a brand new set of beautifully white, straight, and symmetrical teeth that you’re proud to show the world.
Veneers are strong, durable, and built to withstand the pressure of talking, chewing, and brushing. But they don’t last forever. While most veneers last around 10-15 years, their longevity partially has to do with how you take care of them.
At Avalon Dental in San Ramon, California, Dr. Cliff Broschinsky leads our team in offering a wide variety of cosmetic dentistry services, including veneers. In this month’s blog, we discuss what veneers can do for you and how to prolong their stunning results.
Veneers are thin porcelain shells that fit over the front of your existing teeth to correct a wide range of cosmetic dental issues. These include:
You can choose to cover an entire row of teeth or just one or two.
Before you get veneers, we take a custom mold of your teeth. We color-match the veneers to blend in seamlessly with your natural teeth. Before we attach the veneers, we remove some of the top layer of your teeth (enamel) to securely attach the veneers with dental bonding materials.
Porcelain veneers are incredibly durable, and they provide a natural appearance. But there are things you have to do to ensure they stay white and intact, just as you would your natural teeth.
Protect your veneers by following these five guidelines:
If you’re having difficulty opening something, don’t use your teeth. Use scissors instead. Using your teeth to open things is a surefire way to quickly wear down the veneers or break them. You can damage your natural teeth this way, too.
Eating especially hard or crunchy foods is risky with veneers. When biting into something hard, only use your back teeth, and avoid chewing on pens or ice.
If you play contact sports or grind your teeth at night, wear a mouthguard to avoid damaging or wearing down your veneers.
Even though porcelain veneers are stain-resistant, they can still lose their brilliant shade of white if you drink lots of staining beverages, such as coffee and red wine, as well as eat staining foods, such as berries and tomato sauce.
Using an abrasive toothbrush or whitening products on your veneers can damage them in the long term. Use a soft-bristle toothbrush and avoid aggressive whitening products to prevent wearing down the veneers.
To learn more about veneers or how to care for them, contact our team by phone or online today.
