What are Veneers?

Cosmetic, or aesthetic, dentistry usually involves several different types of dental therapy including but not limited to crowns, whitening, gum therapy to treat recession, bite splint therapy, and bonding. Veneers can be used alone or in combination with other procedures to artificially create beautiful smiles.

Veneers are ceramic, or sometimes composite resin, facings used to repair esthetics. It is usually necessary to remove a controlled amount of tooth structure to allow ceramic artist to create optimal esthetics of the porcelain that will be used to build the veneers. Typically, the greater the change in appearance desired, the more tooth structure must be prepared. Veneers can either be done with conventional techniques using impressions and provisional restorations, or they can be done with one-day dentistry techniques.

However, the best esthetic results are typically best achieved by conventional techniques using a dental laboratory with a master ceramist.

The following is an example veneer case treated by Dr. Huff demonstrating what can be done with esthetic porcelain veneers, demonstrating the process used to achieve optimal results.

1 This patient was not happy with her smile in photographs and with the “white spots” on her teeth. She had been previously treated with braces and was not interested in going through orthodontic treatment again.

2 After careful planning done with evaluation of photographs, designing an optimal smile based on normal parameters as identified in scientific literature, building a diagnostic replica on models of that design with carved wax, controlled preparation of the teeth using a rubber guide could be used to create uniform space for the building of esthetic porcelain veneers.

3 A master ceramist built the veneers on a solid model based on detailed information provided to him by Dr. Huff including photographs, a three-dimensional record of how the teeth relate to the jaw joints, and verified bite records.

4 Once the temporary veneers were removed, and the new ceramic veneers were bonded in place, this patient was extremely pleased with her new gorgeous smile!