Porcelain Veneers in West Bloomfield, MI

With good care, porcelain veneers typically last somewhere between ten and twenty years. What decides where you land in that range is mostly habit rather than luck: biting hard objects, opening things with your front teeth, and grinding at night all shorten it, which is why we fit a night guard alongside veneers for patients who grind. The gum line and the bonded margin are checked at every regular visit, because a small issue caught there is what keeps a veneer on the tooth.

It depends on how far your smile line goes back when you talk and laugh rather than on a standard number. Some cases are one tooth. Many are the six upper front teeth, and some run eight or ten so the shade stays consistent to the corners. Your dentist works this out with you at the design consultation by looking at your own smile, not by quoting a package, and a smaller number is often enough once whitening has evened out the teeth beside them.

A veneer covers the front of a tooth and is a cosmetic answer for a tooth that is still structurally sound. A crown covers the tooth completely and is what a tooth needs when decay, a crack, or a large old filling has taken too much of it away. The deciding question is how much healthy tooth is left, not how the tooth looks, and it is answered by examining it rather than from a photograph.

Bonding is usually the better first answer for a single chipped edge. It is done in one visit, it removes almost nothing from the tooth, and it can be repaired or redone easily. Veneers are the stronger answer when several teeth need changing together, when staining will not lift, or when shape and length are the problem rather than one broken corner. Composite also picks up staining over the years where porcelain does not, which is the tradeoff to weigh.

A small amount of enamel is shaped away so the veneer fits flush against the tooth. Your dentist removes as little as possible, and the veneer then protects the surface it covers.

Preparation is done with local anesthesia and most patients feel pressure rather than pain. Some mild sensitivity to hot and cold for a few days afterward is normal.

Yes. A single veneer can correct one damaged or oddly shaped tooth, and your dentist matches it to the shade and texture of the teeth beside it.

Whitening is simpler and less expensive and works well on natural staining. Veneers are the answer when staining is deep, uneven, or paired with chips and gaps.

Call us and keep the piece if you have it. A veneer that has debonded whole can often be cleaned and rebonded to the same tooth. A chip in the porcelain sometimes polishes out, and sometimes the veneer is remade, which is a single tooth rather than the whole case. Do not try to stick it back yourself. In the meantime the prepared tooth underneath may be sensitive to cold, so avoid biting on that side until we have seen you.

Veneers change how a tooth looks rather than how it works, so most plans treat them as elective and do not cover them. CareCredit and Cherry let you spread the cost, and your dentist goes through the whole plan with you before anything begins. The quickest way to get a real answer for your own case is a short conversation. Call us at (248) 863-9109 or book online.