Do porcelain veneers need special care?

[Abbi]

Hi

I am thinking about getting six porcelain veneers because my teeth are so discoloured. I tried teeth whitening but despite doing teeth whitening for almost a month it did not improve the colour of my teeth that much.

Before I commit to having veneers, I would like to know a couple of things. Firstly how much of my tooth will be shaved down for porcelain veneers and secondly do porcelain veneers need any special care taken of them once they are fitted?

Will I have to change anything in my diet or any of my habits if I have porcelain veneers fitted? I don't mind making changes but I would like to know what is necessary first.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your question.

When I do porcelain veneers, I always ask the lab to provide preparation guides for the veneers. I always show the preparation guide models to the patient during the trial smile review appointment. At that point you will be able to see exactly how much tooth tissue is removed before you have anything irreversible done to your tooth.

The amount of tooth removal could range from nothing in places to substantial tooth reduction in other places, it really all depends on the case, smile design and the teeth involved.

Veneers do need special care such as daily flossing and brushing and maintenace of good oral hygiene. When you have veneers you must be careful not to bite into hard things that you could break them as well as cut out any habits that could result in veneer debonding or fracture.