Porcelain Veneers Archives | Poplar Crossing Dental

Can a Scaler Damage a Porcelain Veneer?

Posted on January 15, 2025 by writeradmin.

I’ve had two cleanings since getting my porcelain veneers and both times one of my porcelain veneers ended up fractured a few days later. I asked about the type of scaler so I could figure out what was going on. They told me that it was a magnetostrictive ultrasonic cleaner. Is it common for porcelain veneers to fracture after cleanings? Is there a way to prevent this?

Vera

Dear Vera,

There are two type of these ultrasonic scalers. Your dentist uses the magnetostrictive. The other kind is a piezoelectric. The most popular kind is the one that your dentist uses. It’s been around the longest so there is no surprise that it is the most popular. When used properly it should cause no problems for porcelain veneers at all as long as it is properly used. It is more gentle than the other scaler, however, the technique has to be just right or it is more likely that damage will happen.

When done improperly, these are more likely to chip the veneers than fracture them. It would take a dentist using the tip of the scaler on the tooth to do that kind of damage, which is something a dentist should absolutely never do. If your dentist or hygienist caused damage with improper use of a scaler, then I would recommend you not stay with that office. They should also replace the damaged porcelain veneers.

It is important that you go to an office that does a lot of cosmetic work and has a dentist that invested in significant post-doctoral training in cosmetic dentistry. They would be sure to make sure their staff understands how to treat cosmetic dental work. Once these are fixed, you also won’t want them to use a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride. Both of those will damage the glaze on your dental work. While just about any dentist can do something like teeth whitening. It takes significant skill and training to do something like porcelain veneers.

I am sorry this happened to you. If your dentist is uncooperative, may I suggest you show your veneers to an expert cosmetic dentist, they may be able to help you figure out what went wrong. Then, you’ll have a second dentist’s opinion on your side.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.

A Porcelain Veneer Turning Blue

Posted on December 18, 2024 by writeradmin.

My daughter had some porcelain veneers made. Shortly afterward, she had a bit of an accident and one of them was slightly chipped. Her dentist shaved the tooth to even it out and then shaved the one next to it to be level with the others. Now the one she shaved down to match the injured one is turning blue. Do you know what this is? My daughter is worried it is going to fall off. If it does, would a dentist consider it a dental emergency? She’s about to come home for Christmas. Can we get whatever is going on fixed here?

Patricia

Dear Patricia,

It would be hard to tell exactly what is going on without examining her or having a picture but, based on what you’ve described, it sounds like she may have a leaky veneer.

This is when there is not a great bond between the porcelain veneer and the tooth. Because of that, things are “leaking” into the area where the bonding is.

You have a couple of options. She can wait until it falls off or she can have it ground off and then replaced. If it falls off, then it is a simple matter of cleaning the area and re-bonding the porcelain veneer. While some dentists would not consider this a dental emergency, most cosmetic dentists understand that there are aesthetic emergencies and would get her in right away.

If you have it removed, then you would have to have a new porcelain veneer made and then bond it back on. Neither is right or wrong. Certainly taking it off will be more expensive. However, some people find peace of mind and not worrying about the veneer falling out all the time worth the extra cost. Others, do not have the ability to just get another veneer. You’ll have to weigh the pros and cons for your family’s particular situation.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Cosmetic Dentist Dr. William Becker.

Am I Too Young for Porcelain Veneers?

Posted on October 17, 2024 by writeradmin.

I’ve been out of braces for a few years and my teeth still have some minor spaces as well as a couple of chipped teeth. I was thinking of getting porcelain veneers and have been in touch with an LVI preferred cosmetic dentist. He was talking about grinding the teeth, which has me a bit nervous. Would I be better off getting dental bonding for my smile makeover? Is there a minimum age for porcelain veneers? When I was about 16, my dentist said I was still too young, but I’m 22 now.

Carol

Dear Carol,

As long as your teeth are fully erupted, you are old enough to have porcelain veneers. That usually happens around the age of 18. If you are going for a complete smile makeover, then porcelain veneers would be better than dental bonding. They last longer. If you’re just wanting to repair a couple of chips, you can get away with just doing the dental bonding. However, you will need to replace them every few years.

The important thing is that you get an expert cosmetic dentist to do them. Being and LVI preferred cosmetic dentist does not necessarily make them an expert. It simply means that they took a course and paid a fee to be listed on the preferred list. It guarantees nothing about their skill level. Some will be great and some will be average at best.

There should not be any major grinding of your teeth. Just minimal shaving of a few millimeters. If he’s talking about something more, he might be planning porcelain crowns instead of porcelain veneers. Do not let him do that.

You want someone who has invested in post-doctoral training for cosmetic dentistry. They should also do a try in of your porcelain veneers with a temporary try-in paste. If you don’t like anything about them, the dentist should be willing to make changes. Never allow someone to permanently bond on your smile makeover if you are not absolutely crazy about them. You are paying for a gorgeous smile and that is what you should get.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.

Repairing a Broken bottom Tooth

Posted on September 28, 2024 by writeradmin.

I chipped the biting edge of my front tooth. It is hurting my gums. I had a dentist put some composite bonding on the tooth, but it fell off just a few days later, so I don’t have much faith in that particular type of treatment. I don’t know where dental technology is at the moment. Do we have anything which will help teeth to regrow?

Sally

Dear Sally,

Occlusion, which is how the teeth come together, is an important aspect of dentistry. Every time you close your mouth, the incisal edges of your bottom teeth will hit the insides of the upper incisors.

Apparently the dentist fixing your tooth didn’t know that. The tooth has to be fixed in a way that takes those occlusal stresses into account.

As an example, look at the image above. It has a chipped lower incisor. This incisor is a bit in front of the other teeth, which means it is going to hit with a bit more force. I would not expect the repair on this to last long if all the dentist does is put some dental bonding over the chip without adjusting the position of the tooth a bit.

Here is an example of the correct repair on this tooth.

I found something specific to your case. These images are courtesy of a colleague Dr. Ian Bell of Bellevue, WA.

To repair a tooth in your type of situation, the tooth first has to be shaved in a way that puts it in a good occlusal position. One that happens, then the repair is much safer. In this case, porcelain veneers were used instead of composite bonding.

You will want an expert cosmetic dentist to do this. As you’ve discovered, your average family dentist will not be able to do this well.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.

Stains on My Porcelain Veneers

Posted on July 5, 2024 by writeradmin.

I had porcelain veneers placed a year ago. I’m actually still paying them off and will be for a couple more years. They’ve started to stain around the edges, though, and that has me worried. I do smoke, but my dentist told me that porcelain veneers are pretty stain resistant. Are mine defective? Should I stop paying for them?

Laura

Dear Laura,

If you were able to send a picture of these it would help, but I can give you a couple of guesses as to what is going on. You mentioned the staining is just on the edges, so I will just talk about those possibilities. The first is that there is a gap between the edges of the porcelain veneers and your teeth. This is when the margins are exposed. If that was the case, then you would need to get them redone. It would need to be fixed because things will get caught in those gaps and it will lead to decay on your teeth.

A second option is that it is not the porcelain veneers themselves that are picking up the stains, but the bonding composite. While porcelain veneers are very stain resistant, more stain resistant than even your natural teeth, the composite bonding is not. The good news is there is a way to polish them back to their original shine.

Make sure you go back to your cosmetic dentist who placed your veneers to have this done. The procedure requires material and knowledge that your average family dentist will not have. Your dentist will use an ultra-fine aluminum oxide polishing paste and polish the area with ultra-fine polishing strips. I would consider this a regular part of the maintenance for your porcelain veneers.

I will also recommend you get Supersmile Toothpaste. It is specifically designed for the care of cosmetic dental work and will safely remove any surface stains without causing any damage to the surface of the veneers. I would not use any over the counter whitening toothpastes. These tend to have abrasives, which can cause damage to the surface of both your natural teeth and cosmetic work. Then, they will begin to pick up stains.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.

What Is the Solution to Brown Spots on My Teeth?

Posted on June 1, 2024 by writeradmin.

I had a fever when I was younger that left me with embarrassing brown spots on my teeth. My dentist decided to try teeth whitening to help it. We tried every over the counter whitening in the store, none of which worked. I’m wondering if I should go to someplace that offers Zoom Whitening. Would that work any better?

Stacey

Dear Stacey,

I think your dentist means well but does not understand cosmetic dentistry. I’m sure she is an excellent general dentist, however, you are going to have to go somewhere else to get the right treatment.

Unfortunately, teeth whitening will not be the solution. Even the most powerful professional teeth whitening will not help. The reason for this is that while it will whiten your teeth, it will do so evenly. That means the non-spotted portions of your teeth whiten as well, actually making the brown spots more obvious. This is a basic tenant of teeth whitening.

There are two good ways to deal with these brown spots: dental bonding and porcelain veneers. It is important that you don’t have your general dentist do this. Teeth whitening is the easiest of the cosmetic procedures and he or she had a fundamental misunderstanding of how that worked. The two procedures I’m suggesting as possibilities are both very advanced. You would need a dentist who has invested in significant post-doctoral training in cosmetic dentistry to do either one of these well.

Which you get depends on your goals and how big the spots are. If the only thing that bothers you about the appearance of your teeth is the spots and they are small, dental bonding is a sufficient solution. This will require some mild abrasives on the spots and then your dentist will bond some composite on top of the spots to blend that portion of your teeth in completely naturally with the remainder of your tooth structure. This is less expensive but doesn’t last as long, which means it will have to be redone every few years.

If the spots are bigger or there are other things about your smile you want to change, then porcelain veneers are the way to go. These are what the celebrities use to get those Hollywood smiles. They can change the shape, size, and color of your teeth. These use tiny wafers of porcelain that cover the entire front of your teeth. When well cared for can last many years.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.

360-Veneers are NOT Porcelain Veneers

Posted on January 19, 2024 by writeradmin.

I am needing some advice. I went to my dentist hoping to get a smile makeover. I’d asked for porcelain veneers. He suggested I get something called 360-veneers which will be a better fit for me. I specifically asked if that would require my teeth to be ground down more and they assured me it would not and that only a very small amount will be removed. The problems started with the temporaries. Two of the 360-veneers keep falling off. They assured me that when the permanent ones were bonded, this would not be an issue. I started to have my doubts about their honesty when I saw my tooth after the 360 veneer fell off. It was a small nub! This is certainly not a “very small amount” by any reasonable amount of measurement. My fears turned out to be justified because after the permanent ones came in, those same teeth still had the crowns falling off.

I am doing everything they told me to. I am not eating anything hard. I am cutting everything up really small, and I am making sure to chew in the back. Can you help me? I am so stressed. I never know when they’re going to fall off and I don’t know what to do. They’re saying that I’m not taking care of them.

Erin

Dear Erin,

I am very sorry that this is happening to you. I’m going to be very blunt and say your dentist is lying to you. My alarm bells first went off when you said “360-veneers.” There is no such thing, because porcelain veneers only cover the front of your teeth and hug the sides a smidge. What wraps around a tooth is a dental crown.

There are some “ethically challenged” dentists who will unnecessarily push a patient toward dental crowns for their smile makeover because they don’t really know how to properly place porcelain veneers. You see, smile makeovers aren’t focused on in dental school. In some schools, they’re not even taught. Dentists who are truly interested in doing beautiful cosmetic work have to get post-doctoral training.

The thing that gets me even more about your dentist is he can’t even do the crowns correctly. This is one of the first things dentists are trained to do in dental school and most dentists go their entire careers without having even one dental crown fall off. Your dentist can’t seem to manage that. My guess is that he over tapered the teeth on the crowns that are coming off repeatedly.

Second, he lied to you about the amount of tooth structure that needed to be removed. I posted an image above that shows the difference between the tooth preparation of porcelain veneers versus porcelain crowns. You clearly described porcelain crown preparation. That is a second violation of ethics.

Finally, they are blaming you for something that is clearly their issue. When either porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns are bonded on properly, you can eat whatever you want! You don’t have to only eat soft foods. You don’t have to cut everything into tiny bites. You don’t have to shove everything to the back to chew.

I’m going to suggest that you ask for a full refund from this dentist. It is going to take a dentist of considerable expertise to repair whatever he did to make these crowns fall off the way they are.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.

Treating Enamel Hypoplasia

Posted on August 7, 2023 by writeradmin.

I have enamel hypoplasia and I’m tired of people judging me off of my smile. I can’t change people, so I’m going to do the best I can to fix this. Is there a standard fix for it?

Andy

Dear Andy,

It’s true that people often judge us by our smiles. It’s sometimes unfair because there are some conditions people just can’t help. The good news is there is a great treatment option for you.

For those who are unaware of what enamel hypoplasia is, I’ll explain. It is a defect in the tooth enamel where it does not fully form. Sometimes this is the result of a genetic defect and other times, it is because of illness during tooth formation.

The treatment depends on the type of hypoplasia you are dealing with. When it comes to mild hypoplasia, the easiest solution would be to have dental bonding done. This is where the dentist will use microabrasion to remove the affected area and fill it in with a composite bonding material. If all you want to do is fix the hypoplasia, this is the route I’d go.

If, however, you have severe hypoplasia or you want to do a complete smile makeover then I would suggest you have porcelain veneers placed.

These tiny wafers of porcelain can not only cover the damage to your teeth but can also completely remake your smile, including the shape, size, and color. This is what people sometimes call the Hollywood smile makeover because so many celebrities get it to improve their smile.

While more expensive than the bonding, it last many more years. Both of the procedures need to be done by a cosmetic dentist who has experience and artistry. I would look at their smile gallery to see what type of results they provide. If a dentist does not have a smile gallery that means they do not do enough cosmetic dentistry to produce beautiful results. I would move on and look for someone else.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.

Will Medicaid Cover Porcelain Veneers?

Posted on February 1, 2023 by writeradmin.

Ever since my cancer treatments, my teeth have been an absolute mess and I am ashamed to smile. I want to get porcelain veneers, but they are pretty pricey. I’m on Medicaid, which tells you about how much I earn. Is it possible that Medicaid would cover the porcelain veneers because my problem is medical?

Megan

Dear Megan,

I am so sorry for all you have been through. Cancer does a number on every part of your body, including your teeth. They are basically poisoning you in order to cure you. Unfortunately, Medicaid does not care about the reason your teeth have deteriorated. The big problem with government funded health care is that they will only cover the cheapest option. In their mind, it would be cheaper to remove your teeth and give you dentures than to try and save your teeth as well as make them beautiful with porcelain veneers. I would not recommend their solution. In fact, completely removable dentures cause more problems than they solve.

The first thing I would do is ask your dentist for some fluoride treatments to try to heal some of the damage done. He or she should be willing to do that given your situation. Then, evaluate the situation with any decay. Once the decay is dealt with it is time to get a pretty smile back.

If you really want porcelain veneers, I would save up for them so you can have them done by an excellent cosmetic dentist. In the meantime, teeth whitening is the most affordable way to improve your smile quickly. That alone can make you look years younger. Just make sure you have used that fluoride and your teeth are no longer dealing with the sensitivity that likely developed throughout your cancer treatments.

I wish that government healthcare were better and that they factored in situations such as yours. Unfortunately, they are all about the bottom line.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.

Peroxide Mouthwash for Porcelain Veneers

Posted on February 1, 2022 by writeradmin.

I recently got porcelain veneers for a smile makeover and can’t stop smiling. I want to take good care of them. I devised a homemade mouthwash and wanted to run the ingredients by you before I use it.

8 oz. filtered water
8 oz. peroxide (the kind you get in the store)
1 tsp. sea-salt

Is it safe for me to rinse my mouth with this every day?

Marilyn

Dear Marilyn,

I am glad that you love your new smile makeover. We’ve seen that patients who get a smile makeover grow in confidence and even end up getting unexpected benefits. I know one person whose confidence grew so much they received a promotion in just a few months. While it is wonderful that you want to take great care of your smile, there is one ingredient you have that concerns me. Hydrogen peroxide when used periodically can do wonderful things to clean up bacteria in your mouth. However, as a mouthwash, if you plan on using it daily, it can cause some problems. This is because it will kill both the good and bad bacteria. This will leave you at risk of developing an oral yeast infection. If you only use this once a week you should be fine, but I would not do it more than that.

If you ever decide to purchase over-the-counter mouthwash just be certain that it does not contain alcohol, which can weaken the bonding on your porcelain veneers.

Caring for Porcelain Veneers

Honestly, the most important thing you can do for your porcelain veneers is good basic oral hygiene. Brush your teeth twice a day and floss daily. As for toothpaste, you will want to avoid typical over-the-counter whitening toothpaste. These contain harsh abrasives that can leave micro-scratches in both your natural teeth and porcelain veneers. While it will scrub stains off, those etches actually make them more vulnerable to picking up stains. The only whitening toothpaste I recommend is Supersmile Toothpaste. It is specially formulated for cosmetic work and protects it instead of damaging it. If you do that and keep up with your dental appointments, you should be just fine.

This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.