Dental Veneers: What You Need to Know
November 25, 2020
Dental Veneers are able to mask tooth decay, chipped, crooked, or stained teeth. See what types of Veneers exist and which one would be best for you.
The Gold Standard In Aesthetic Dentistry That Restores Your Teeth In The Most Beautiful and Natural-Like Appearance
Dental Veneers are extremely thin shells of medical-grade porcelain that bond permanently to the front surfaces of individual teeth. In the right hand, this relatively quick and easy cosmetic treatment that can conceal many types of imperfections and help you accomplish the smile you have always wanted.
At ArtSmiles Cosmetic Dentistry, we understand that it’s essential for your teeth to function properly and look aesthetic. That is why we offer the highest quality Porcelain Veneers in our state-of-the-art practice in the heart of Gold Coast. These veneers are designed to give you natural-looking white teeth and cover any teeth imperfections. This improves your smile as well as your overall facial appearance.
Book a Free Veneers Consultation Today!
Want to find out about how ArtSmiles can help you achieve your perfect smile? Come for a free consultation to find out.
or call us on (07) 5588 3677
What Are Porcelain Veneers?
Porcelain or Ceramic Veneers are a thin, translucent layer of porcelain that are customised to cover the imperfections of your teeth. You can think of a porcelain veneer like a contact lens.
The material is shaped to bond to the front of your teeth, and as a result, enhances the shape, size, colour and symmetry of teeth and smile.
Moreover, veneers allow for the restoration of proper function and occlusal guidances of teeth, lengthening fractured or worn margins due to ageing.
Dental veneers are minimally invasive adhesive restorations with high aesthetic value. Thanks to minimal preparations limited to the enamel, it is possible to fabricate veneers with an average thickness of 0.5 mm.
Designing Your Beautiful Veneers
Careful planning is provided along with extensive discussions to understand our patients expectations. We work closely with our dental technicians who fabricate the veneers following to the approved smile design. Our patients have the opportunity of visualizing what the veneers could look like and approve the appearance before any irreversible treatment is carried out. We use wax ups on the models of the teeth which are then transferred to the mouth with a mock up made with temporary material that allows us and most importantly the patient, to see what the ideal size, shape and position is necessary. It also allows us to check the bite and make sure the final veneers need minimal adjustments.
Who Can Benefit from Porcelain Veneers?
If you have one or more of the following conditions, then veneers may be an ideal solution for you:
- Discoloured and stained teeth
- Worn-down teeth
- Chipped or broken teeth
- Misaligned, irregular shaped or uneven teeth
- Teeth that are too Small or Large
- Teeth with gaps
Composite Resin VS Porcelain Veneers
What is the Difference?
There are as many differences as similarities between resin composite veneers and porcelain veneers. Determining which type of veneer is right for you comes down to multiple different factors.
Both types basically serve the same purpose and involve placing tooth-coloured material over the front surface of the tooth to improve its shape.
Both are used to deal with dull, discoloured, chipped, cracked, short or uneven teeth. If any one or more of these are affecting you, your smile or your confidence, veneers are obviously the best and most common solution.
The differences are due to the quality, procedure, durability and cost of the two different materials.
Quality
Porcelain veneers are thin shells of porcelain adhered to the outer-surface of the tooth. Composite veneers are engineered resin affixed to the outer-surface. Both are made to match your teeth (or whiten) and improve your overall smile.
Porcelain veneers are much stronger and more durable than composite resin veneers. They’re extremely thin (0.6mm), so they feel like real teeth in your month. The smooth, impervious ceramic used in porcelain veneers also resists staining from cigarettes or coffee.
With dental porcelain veneers, your teeth reconstruction is so close to natural in terms of their shape, colour, and texture, that only your dentist can tell the difference between them and your natural teeth.
Procedure
The quicker of the two dental veneers to be applied to the teeth are composite veneers. This is because they can be done chairside in the same visit. Dr. Cristian Dunker will match the resin to the colour, size, and shape of your desired new smile. The resin is added to your teeth, cured and then polished. You can walk out the same day with a new smile!
Porcelain veneers typically take at least two visits. Dr. Cristian will remove a very thin layer of your teeth, take an impression of the teeth receiving the veneers and send the mould out to a lab to be hand crafted. While you are waiting on your veneers to be fabricated you can wear temporary veneers. A second visit will fit them to check for colour match and shape, and if you’re happy, they will be bonded to complete the process.
Durability
With proper care, porcelain veneers should last 10-15 years. Composite veneers, on the other hand, typically last 5-8 years. While porcelain is fragile, once bonded to a healthy tooth it is extremely durable. Composite is durable but not as strong as porcelain and is more prone to chipping.
However, if damage were to happen to a porcelain veneer, it would have to be replaced, it cannot be repaired. If you chip a composite veneer, you can repair it.
Cost
Porcelain veneers are more expensive than composite initially. The placement of porcelain takes more time, expertise and resources. The dental lab’s dentists work with are chosen very carefully and cost money to fabricate restorations. If you break down costs by how often you would have to replace/repair composite verse porcelain though, the cost could come out even over time.
Choosing between composite and porcelain veneers
At the end of the day, the only way to determine whether a composite or porcelain veneer solution is right for you is to come for a free consultation and discuss about your aesthetic goals and to weigh your personal considerations.
In other words, what is most important to you? If you’re looking for the most cost-effective solution, then a composite veneers treatment plan will probably be a good fit. However, if you have a severe aesthetic concern, or you’re looking for the most natural and durable treatment solution, then porcelain veneers will give you a fantastic result.
Regardless of which material you opt for in the end, you can rest assured that both offer fantastic smile enhancement.
Porcelain Veneers Process
1. Initial Complimentary Consultation
If you’re considering porcelain veneers, the first step is to come in for a complimentary consultation with Dr. Cristian Dunker at his office in Gold Coast, Queensland. Your initial consultation will be free, consisting of an avaliation of your whole mouth looks and functions as a whole. Before we plan your dental veneers, we want to know everything about the health and aesthetics of your smile — and most importantly, what you want to achieve so that we can help you get there.
We’ll show you pictures of amazing smiles to see what appeals to you and we’ll offer guidance for which smile might best match the shape and contours of your face. You’ll see a myriad of examples of our own cosmetic dentistry work.
Dr. Dunker will listen to your concerns, discuss your situation and help you select the best possible way in which you can get the changes you want. You’ll receive a personalised treatment plan for best achieving your goals and we’ll walk you through the details. Your treatment plan will be carefully formulated to make sure that your smile transformation is exactly what you want it to be.
2. Digital Impression For Dental Veneerss
On your first veneer visit, a very thin layer of enamel is removed from your teeth, ensuring that we’re being as conservative as possible. Being conservative with tooth reduction requires more skill by the dentists so we’re proud to be among the elite class who are dedicated to providing the BEST results for you.
Then the dentist does impressions of your teeth. Nowadays it is possible to use Intra Oral Scanners (IOS) to obtain digital impressions.
Unlike the traditional ones, digital impressions do not require pastes, impression materials or trays that often result bulky and uncomfortable for patients.
Intra-oral scanners are high resolution cameras that allow to detect the shape of teeth and gums as well as the colour of tissues, allowing for the fabrication of veneers with a full digital workflow. This technique is very quick and comfortable and permits to check the precision of preparations in real time.
3. Aesthetic Analysis
The aesthetic diagnosis is aimed at evaluating all the factors that influence a proper integration of the smile in the face of a patient. It is therefore based on a facial analysis, which allows to assess the symmetry and proportions of the face, and on a dental analysis, that allows to evaluate the relationship between the teeth and the perioral soft tissues. This is where artistry comes into play.
The facial analysis takes into consideration the midline of the face (face-nose-chin), the bipupillary line (passing through the eye pupils) and the occlusal plane (touching the dental margins and cusps). Such reference planes allow for the identification of any asymmetry which should be compensated for during the dental treatment (pendant smile line, deviations of the midline, etc).
4. Dental Lab Process
Then, the file obtained from the impression is sent to a Master Ceramist that will produce the veneers with a full digital workflow. In this way, manufacturing times are reduced and it is possible to achieve highly accurate and predictable results through CAD-CAM processes (Computer Aided Design-Computer Aided Manufacturing).
We choose the best ceramists, based on your specific plan. We work closely and communicate with them every step of the way to give you the results you want.
5. Mock-up
It is possible to pre-visualize three-dimensionally the final result of an esthetic treatment by means of a non-invasive technique known as “mock-up”. Synthetically, this approach allows for trying-in intraorally the final prostheses before starting the treatment.
The mock-up is based on the reproduction of the ideal shape of the teeth to be treated by means of a computer or a dental master cast and permits to fabricate a silicone template (also using 3D printers) used to transfer resin composite materials intraorally, onto the intact teeth without any prosthetic preparation, just like very thin contact lenses..
This allows the patient to evaluate the possible esthetic result and the dentist to check occlusal functions (chewing, speech, etc). The mock-up technique is not invasive (it does not necessitate enamel preparation) and completely reversible: if the patient does not like the result, the mock-up can be easily removed without modifying the original shape of the teeth and with no damage for dental tissues..
Moreover, the mock-up can be easily modified intraorally, adding or removing resin materials or modifying the shape and volume of the teeth.
6. Placing Veneers
The final step is the bonding and placement of your beautiful porcelain veneers. Congratulations, this is the big day! You will have been wearing your temporaries for a few weeks, test driving everything about them. At this seat appointment we remove the temporaries, try in the finished porcelain to make sure it is perfect and to make sure you LOVE the results.
We then permanently bond in the porcelain restorations. We’ll equilibrate your bite, meaning we align all forces so you have perfectly natural movement. If needed, we’ll make impressions for a protective guard for night time wear. The process is now complete! The final step is the bonding and placement of your beautiful porcelain veneers. Congratulations, this is the big day! You will have been wearing your temporaries for a few weeks, test driving everything about them. At this seat appointment we remove the temporaries, try in the finished porcelain to make sure it is perfect and to make sure you LOVE the results.
We then permanently bond in the porcelain restorations. We’ll equilibrate your bite, meaning we align all forces so you have perfectly natural movement. If needed, we’ll make impressions for a protective guard for night time wear. The process is now complete!
Porcelain Veneers Warranty
Standard
Warranty
2 Years Warranty
-
Breaking, chipping, stain or wear - repair or replace at no extra charge
-
Debonding of veneer - recement or replace at no extra charge
-
Mild sensitivity - 1 session of lasertherapy
-
Repair of higher veneer - 1 session occlusal adjustment
Extended Warranty
ArtSmiles Club
5 Years Warranty
$
39
99
Monthly -
Breaking, chipping, stain or wear - repair or replace at no extra charge
-
Debonding of veneer - recement or replace at no extra charge
-
Mild sensitivity - up to 3 sessions of lasertherapy
-
Repair of higher veneer - 2 session occlusal adjustment
Best Value
Porcelain Veneers Price List
Looking for pricing? Fill out the form below to get our 2023 porcelain veneers price list.
Composite Veneers Warranty
Standard Warranty
1 Year
Warranty
Breaking, chipping, stain or wear - repair or replace at no extra charge
Debonding of veneer - recement or replace at no extra charge
Mild sensitivity - 1 session of lasertherapy
Repair of higher veneer - 1 session occlusal adjustment
2 Years
Warranty
Want extended warranty, discounts on services and easy access to high-quality dental care?
Frequently Asked Questions About Porcelain Veneers
What are Porcelain Veneers?
Porcelain veneers are very thin covers that are put on top of your natural teeth to change the shape, size and color of the teeth. The material is shaped to bond to the front of your teeth, and as a result, enhances the shape and colour of teeth, to close gaps and improve alignment.
The overall purpose for veneers is to improve the appearance of a person’s smile to make them appear younger, healthier and more attractive.
Porcelain is the most popular material at ArtSmiles. It gives a natural long-lasting look, which matches your natural teeth colour. It is highly resistant to staining and discolouring, which makes it better than other materials.
Problems that Porcelain Veneers Can Fix
Porcelain veneers can be used to fix the following problems:
- Discoloured and stained teeth
- Worn-down teeth
- Chipped or broken teeth
- Misaligned, irregular shaped or uneven teeth
- Teeth with gaps
Far too often, people will try to avoid seeking professional dental treatment and live with damaged or crooked teeth. By avoiding treatment, people are only increasing the chance of pain or infection. A chipped tooth can risk exposing the inside of the tooth, causing pain when eating, drinking or biting down on something.
By investing in a dental veneer treatment, our clinical team can help you change the size, shape and shade of your teeth for your specific needs.
What are the advantages of Porcelain Veneers?
You always have options when it comes to dental work. Porcelain veneers come with many advantages that make them an excellent fit for smile makeovers and cosmetic dentistry. Three of the most common situations we see in our office are people who want to: a) whiten their teeth, b) straighten their teeth, and c) fix chips, gaps, or other flaws with their teeth.
Dental Veneers vs. Teeth Whitening
Professional tooth whitening is one of the many services we offer and it can lighten your teeth up to eight shades in one visit to the office. In some cases, such as severe tetracycline stains, this whitening procedure is not enough to achieve the whiteness people want. Permanently stained teeth can be re-surfaced with veneers to make them look perfect. Best of all, the veneers themselves are stain-resistant so you won’t have the problem coming back.
Dental Veneers vs. Dental Bonding
Dental Bonding can be used to fix flaws and chips in your teeth, and even to close gaps or fix misshapen teeth. There are two issues with dental bonding: durability and quality. Dental Bonding usually lasts 3-5 years at best before it starts to chip, wear away, and look old. Porcelain Veneers on the other hand can last 15 years or longer with proper care. The quality of dental bonding has a lot to do with the skill of the dentist, but it cannot match the exact color, translucence, and other qualities of your natural teeth the way we can with porcelain veneers.
Porcelain Veneers vs. Braces
The primary issue with braces is time. It takes 1-2 years wearing the braces to get the teeth in place, and then you have to wear a retainer for the rest of your life to keep them there. Veneers are a permanent fix that can be applied in two visits, and in many cases at Dr. Maddahi’s office, this means starting on Monday and completing on Friday. While veneers are more expensive than braces, the results can be more lasting and be accomplished in a fraction of the time.
What Happens During the Porcelain Veneer Process?
At ArtSmiles, our experts perform an initial detailed consultation and examination to discuss your objectives and determine if the porcelain veneers treatment is suitable for you. After that, our practitioner scans your mouth, and dental veneers are created to match the colour, size, and shape of your desired new smile.
Who is a Good Candidate for Porcelain Veneers Treatment?
Our dentist may suggest a dental veneer if you have any of the following issues with your teeth:
- Severely stained and discoloured teeth
- Minor aesthetic imperfections in your teeth structure such as cracks, chipped, or deformed teeth
- Several aesthetic issues in your teeth
- Overall good oral health
- Sufficient amount of tooth enamel
- Mildly crooked or misaligned teeth
- You do not habitually clench or grind your teeth
- You practice good oral hygiene
ArtSmiles has a variety of financing options available to suit every patient’s needs, so money should not be a barrier to an improved dental health and appearance.
Are porcelain veneers difficult to care for?
No, you can care for your veneer as you care for your teeth, with routine brushing and flossing and regular trips to the dentist to check for any issues with fit or construction.
Benefits of Porcelain Veneers
Veneers are a popular dental treatment. They are strong, look natural and can last for a long time with correct care. Porcelain veneers don’t change colour over time and they are durable and scratch resistant. They dramatically improve a person’s smile by correcting the appearance of the teeth, transforming your smile into aesthetically pleasing natural look. They don’t affect the function of your mouth, there is no need for a surgery and the recovery is quick.
How much do porcelain veneers cost?
In Australia, the cost of each Ceramic Veneer varies from $850 to $1,825.
The cost of getting veneers can vary depending on the number of veneers, scale of treatment required as well as the type of veneers that you get. Our experts will recommend a treatment option best suited to you and give you an estimate of the price and payment options during your free consultation visit.
We offer a number of dental financing options that enable you to pay over time. This way, you can start enjoying your veneers as soon as they are placed. We accept a wide range of payment methods and have plenty of flexible pay later financial options including Afterpay, TLC, Humm and Access My Super.
Porcelain Veneers VS. Composite Veneers
What are the Advantages of composite veneers ?
- Composite veneers can be accomplished in a single visit. Porcelain veneers are fabricated in a dental laboratory and therefore require at least two visits.
- While this is not a general rule, composite veneers need less tooth preparation.
- Composite veneers are more affordable; the cost is usually about half that of porcelain veneers.
What are the Disadvantages of composite veneers ?
- Composite veneers are not as durable as porcelain veneers and more maintenance is required as they are more likely to chip.
- Composite veneers tend to stain more easily (you might consider this especially if you smoke or drink coffee or red wine). Here is the reason: composite is a porous resin while porcelain is glazed and impervious.
What are the Advantages of porcelain veneers ?
- Porcelain has a translucent, light-reflective quality similar to tooth enamel; as a result, it can mimic natural teeth in a way which is not possible to achieve with any other dental material.
- Porcelain is colour stable because there is a glaze placed on the outside which makes it extremely resistant to staining.
- Porcelain veneers are very durable and they rarely chip.
What are the Disadvantages of porcelain veneers ?
- Porcelain veneers are fabricated in a dental laboratory and therefore require at least two visits.
- Porcelain veneers are more expensive than composite veneers as their placement requires more time, expertise and resources.
- Porcelain veneers cannot be repaired. If they break, porcelain veneers must be replaced.
How Long Do Porcelain Veneers Last?
They’re permanent, but they’re not forever. Bonding cement is a substance that microscopically creates bridges from your real tooth to the veneer material so that it adheres to your tooth and becomes one. After the bonding cement is in place and the veneer is on your tooth, the bonding cement is cured with a tiny UV light to secure everything in place.
Porcelain veneers typically last between 10 and 15 years, and Composite veneers last around 5 to 7 years. Taking certain precautions can help make sure that you get the longest lifespan out of them possible.
Follow these six simple tips to make your veneers last:
- Schedule semi-annual checkups and cleanings with your dentist.
- Don’t chew on hard objects like pens, ice, or your finger nails.
- Never use your teeth to open packaging or condiment packages.
- Try not to chew with your front teeth. Eat harder foods with your back teeth only; cut up hard foods like chocolate bars so that this is possible.
- If you grind or clench your teeth at night, get a splint or retainer to protect your veneers.
- If playing sports, you must wear a mouth guard.
Are there any risks?
Composite veneers can wear under pressure, so if you are prone to grinding your teeth, you might want to protect them while you sleep. As they are also not as stain resistant as natural teeth or porcelain, avoiding drinks or food that can exacerbate staining as well as regular polishing is advised.
Porcelain veneers are much closer to natural teeth in substance, and are always ‘measured and fitted’ in such a way that will be moulded to fit your mouth, so are much less susceptible to the above concerns. Take care of them as you would your natural teeth and they’ll be with you for long years!
Can porcelain veneers be put on crooked teeth?
Veneers can be applied to crooked or misaligned teeth to improve alignment or reduce protrusion. Using veneers to correct this is becoming more popular, as it takes only a matter of days from the start of the procedure to the end.
Do porcelain veneers look real?
Dr. Cristian Dunker will make every effort to ensure your teeth look as natural as possible. In most cases, it would take a keen eye to identify veneers of any composition.
Can Veneers be an alternative to braces?
The simple answer is “yes and no”. Braces are designed to move your teeth into place and correct bite and jaw problems. There are certain situations that can be handled with braces that cannot easily be corrected with veneers. However, in many cases where you are dealing with crooked teeth or missing teeth, veneers and dental implants can provide a much faster and more lasting treatment option. Dr. Cristian Dunker regularly helps patients who need a rapid alternative to braces, and he can help you examine your options as a free consultation.
Can I whiten my porcelain veneers?
One of the best benefits of porcelain veneers is they provide a beautiful, white smile.
Veneers can be polished, but not whitened. If it looks like your veneers have discolored over time, chances are the tooth behind the veneer has changed, or you’re seeing discolouration that has occurred between the veneer and the tooth. If you have concerns about your smile losing whiteness please contact us and we’ll work through the various treatment options with you.
Are veneers expensive?
With cosmetic dentistry you absolutely get what you pay for. It’s not unheard of to see people hocking $800 veneers, and it’s unfortunate how many times we’ve had to remove those cheap veneers because they’re uncomfortable, not cosmetically pleasing, or just downright unhealthy. Additionally, a lot of the preparations for those cheap veneers have removed way too much tooth structure because of the skill level and education of that dentist. The old adage is true – you get what you pay for.
The full pricing breakdown can be found under our comprehensive cost of veneers.
About Dr Cristian Dunker
Dr. Cristian Dunker is a trusted Gold Coast Cosmetic Dentist, who has been working with Cosmetic Dentistry and creating beautiful smile makeovers for years. With his skills and up to date approach, the costs and duration of your treatment is greatly reduced while achieving aesthetically appealing, natural-looking, and functional results.
He has perfected the art of Cosmetic Dentistry to ensure that the smile transformation is comfortable, rapid and precisely crafted to give you a smile that is perfectly suited to your face and your personality.
Latests Articles About Dental Veneers
Book a Free Veneers Consultation Today!
Want to find out about how ArtSmiles can help you achieve your perfect smile? Come for a free consultation to find out.
or call us on (07) 5588 3677