Will veneers change my speech?

[Jayson P]

Hi

I have gaps between my teeth and quite small round teeth and I would like my teeth not to have gaps and be a bit more square and a bit bigger. I saw my dentist recently about getting porcelain veneers and he said that I could have porcelain veneers but they will probably change my speech. He was not sure by how much my speech will change but said i will probably get used to it after a while and not notice a big difference. I do work a lot with people for my job and need my speech to stay very clear. Is there a way to find out what changes will be made to my speech before I make my decision on having porcelain veneers?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Veneers that close gaps between front teeth can change your speech. You can find out by how much by having waxups done first and then ask your dentist to copy the waxups on your teeth with temporary veneer material or composite. You can then go home with your trial smile for a few hours and try them out and see by how much they change your speech. They are not permanent though and need to be removed by your dentist after a few hours.

You can test your speech in particular by saying words that begin with S and F and V once your trial smile is on your teeth. For example see if Sixty sounds like Sixty or like Shixty.

[george.kelly]

That's an excellent advice, It will be nice to test the speech before going with porcelain veneers, this way one would be able to analyze the changes in speech.

[Sue Ann]

My mum had porcelain veneers done, to fix a small gap in her teeth. She was worried of speech problems afterwards, so her dentist fixed her a practice smile. My mum found that her speech only changed slightly, and she felt better about getting the veneers after her practice run. If you work with the public, the practice teeth might be a good idea.

[brace-face]

Can the change in speech really be that drastic? It almost makes you wonder if the change in speech is going to be worse than having gaps in your teeth.

[CandyLady]

I was wondering the same thing. I have a couple of friends that got veneers and they seem like they are too big for their mouths. They are bigger than their original teeth. One friend has developed something of a lisp and the other one just doesn't sound the way she used to. I would like to get veneers but I don't want to a speech problem that I got rid of in my younger years after years of speech therapy.