What Are Veneers and Lumineers?

Veneers are thin shells of advanced ceramic that can fit over your natural teeth. They give your teeth an entirely new visible surface, which lets Torrance, CA cosmetic dentist Dr. Webber improve the appearance of your smile. Your teeth can be reshaped, resized, brightened, and reoriented.

We often call them “porcelain veneers” even though they haven’t been made of porcelain for decades. Today, they are made of advanced ceramics that are extremely strong and look like natural tooth enamel. How strong are they? They are several times stronger than your tooth enamel. This makes them not only very durable, but it also makes them more resistant to staining than your natural teeth.

Lumineers are a type of veneer. They are designed to fit over your teeth with little or no removal of your natural tooth enamel. This preserves your natural teeth.

What Veneers Can Do for You

Veneers are possibly the most versatile treatment in cosmetic dentistry. They can be used to overcome almost any cosmetic complaint  you might have about your teeth, such as:

  • Discolored teeth
  • Chipped teeth
  • Worn teeth
  • Gapped teeth
  • Crooked teeth
  • Small teeth
  • Poorly shaped teeth

Veneers whiten your teeth by covering them over with white ceramic. This is because it’s not your natural tooth enamel, you’re not limited in how white your teeth can be. You can have them as white as you want.

Veneers can repair damage to your teeth like chipping and wear by building your teeth up with ceramic.

At the same time, veneers can achieve some of the same goals as orthodontic treatment. It can reshape crooked or gapped teeth so that the tooth crown is straight, giving you a beautiful set of straight teeth.

In addition, veneers can build up teeth that are naturally short, such as retained baby teeth. They can reshape teeth with an unattractive shape, like peg laterals.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Veneers are a very good cosmetic dentistry procedure. However, they are not the best choice for everyone. People like them because they are:

  • Flexible
  • Beautiful
  • Natural-looking
  • Durable

Veneers are flexible. We can use them to improve the appearance of just one or two teeth, or we can do a complete smile makeover. Veneers can achieve the most beautiful smile. The advanced ceramic looks extremely natural, but the veneers can be any color or shape you want. They can give you the exact smile you’re looking for. This includes giving you the smile you enjoyed in your youth as well as the smile of your dreams.

The advanced ceramic in veneers makes them highly durable. Clinical studies show that with proper care, more than 90% last ten years or more, and about 85% of veneers last 20 years or more.

However, veneers do have some disadvantages. First, they are expensive, one of the more expensive cosmetic dentistry procedures available. Second, they take time. After your consultation, you will need two visits a week or more apart to achieve your results. This isn’t nearly as long as it takes to straighten teeth with braces, but it’s not as fast as some other cosmetic dentistry procedures.

Considering Veneers in Torrance?

If you like the thought of brightening, repairing, reshaping, or shifting your smile with veneers, cosmetic dentist Dr. Webber can help. Please call (310) 534-3477 today for an appointment at Simply Smiles in Torrance, CA.