I plan on getting a smile makeover with porcelain veneers. I told my dentist I want a very white smile and I want my two front teeth straight. Right now one of them slightly overlaps the other. He wants me to have both teeth whitening and Invisalign done before getting the porcelain veneers. Is this really necessary? I was under the impression porcelain veneers can whiten and straighten. What is really necessary to do?
Avery
Dear Avery,
Porcelain veneers are a remarkable way to obtain a gorgeous smile makeover. These tiny wafers of porcelain can change the shape, size, and color of your teeth simultaneously. While I agree with some of most of your dentist’s recommendations, the Invisalign should be unnecessary unless you have something severe wrong. The veneers themselves can make your crooked front teeth look straight.
That being said, it may be your dentist is not an experienced cosmetic dentist. He may only know how to do something like Lumineers. This is a brand of porcelain veneers that is highly marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists as being easy to place because they can be done with no preparation. That won’t work for your teeth because of the front teeth. This may be why he’s suggesting you get Invisalign.
If that’s the case, I am going to highly suggest you get a different dentist to do your smile makeover. This is a skill not taught in dental school. A dentist has to invest in post-doctoral training to really become skilled and artistic. I am not convinced your dentist has that yet. We’ll talk about how to find another one in a moment.
The teeth whitening is usually a good idea and will save you money in the long run. You don’t want to spend money unnecessarily by veneering every tooth. You don’t need to place veneers on the bottom teeth at all. You’ll want enough veneers to cover the teeth which are fully visible when you smile. The others will look quite close to the whitening.
Finding a Cosmetic Dentist to do Your Porcelain Veneers
Before you settle on a cosmetic dentist, I want you to check two things. The first is his smile gallery. If they don’t have a smile gallery, don’t even consider them. If they do, make sure you love the results they get. I don’t mean like. I mean love. If so, that is when you can move onto the second thing to check.
I’d like you to check their reviews. You want to find out what other patients have experienced. Did the dentist listen to them? Was he pleasant to deal with? Did the work hold up?
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