Dental Veneers in Harley Street London

Whilst there are many effective tooth whitening products and procedures available; for many who have badly stained teeth, these may not be sufficient to give the white teeth that are required, especially if a total smile makeover is required.

Dental veneers offer a great solution for these instances as well as for those who have damaged teeth or a gap between their teeth. These are easily rectified using dental veneers.

Dental veneers are simply a wafer thin layer of tooth-like material, usually made from ceramic, porcelain or a composite bonding material. These are then cemented to the front of the damaged or stained teeth, very similar to the manner in which false fingernails are attached to existing ones.

For a full ‘Hollywood smile’ it may be that most of the visible teeth have veneers attached, however if they are specifically for just a few damaged or stained teeth, the advantage of dental veneers is that they can be made to match the colour of a person's existing teeth.

A form of dental veneer may also be applied to damaged or chipped teeth by replacing the chip with composite bonding or composite veneer as it may be referred to. Whilst composite veneers are more suited to repairing chipped or damaged teeth, this is not considered to be as strong as porcelain or ceramic although it is much cheaper.

Porcelain or ceramic veneers have a distinct advantage also in that they provide a much more natural look whilst also lasting much longer than composite veneers.

To have dental veneers fitted, it is important to arrange a consultation with the dentist who will advise if dental veneers are the best option for your teeth.

It may be for example that if teeth are not sufficiently stained, a tooth whitening treatment may be more advisable.

Once the decision has been taken to have dental veneers fitted, the dentist will numb the area with a local anaesthetic. Once this has taken effect, using a drill called a burr, a fine layer, the same thickness as the veneer will be shaved from the front of the teeth which are to receive the dental veneer. An impression of your teeth will then be taken and this will be sent to a laboratory in order for the veneers to be created. To protect your teeth whilst the veneers are being prepared, the dentist may fit temporary veneers although this varies from dentist to dentist. On a subsequent visit, the dentist will fit the new veneers using special dental cement and leaving you with a white set of teeth.

This may seem a long and drawn out process though and the great news is that many dentists now use CEREC which is a computerised system which allows the dentist to take a photographic 3D image of your teeth after the thin layer has been removed and then on site, create the veneers to be fitted. This process should take a little under an hour as no impressions have to be sent to laboratories. The CEREC system is becoming increasingly popular as it facilitates the fitting of dental veneers in a single visit.

Most dental veneers should be expected to last between five and ten years, although composite veneers will probably only last for a year or two.

Naturally, dental veneers will have a longer life span if good oral healthcare such as brushing and flossing are followed.