Important Information About Combining Porcelain Veneers And Dental Crowns To Repair A Damaged Smile

When you have multiple dental problems that include both minor and major issues, your care plan will obviously need to be similarly complex. It is easy to wrongly assume that you need to choose one primary dental repair technique, but the reality is that your teeth and their damage can benefit from different repair processes.

One helpful plan is the use of porcelain veneers on teeth with lesser amounts of wear, smaller chips and gaps between teeth, coupled with dental crowns for teeth that have lost the majority of their size and strength. A dental crown can stabilize a weakened tooth, thus preventing additional damage to the tooth or its entire loss. It is common to have veneers on most or all of your front teeth and crowns on the back teeth, assuming that your teeth are healthy enough to do so.

When Will Porcelain Veneers Be Appropriate?

Porcelain veneers typically take three different appointments to complete. Your first visit is a consultation, which may also include x-rays and an in-depth exam to be sure that your teeth are healthy and intact enough for veneers. The second appointment will involve the removal of a small amount of enamel from your teeth and the third visit is when you will actually get the new veneers.

Because approximately 1/2 millimeter of enamel must be removed from your teeth to be able to affix the veneers to them, your teeth must be reasonably intact. For example, if your teeth have small chips on the outside or are a bit worn, porcelain veneers are typically a great choice. If there are large holes, cavities or fillings in the middle of the tooth, you may need a dental crown instead.

When Should You Get Dental Crowns?

As mentioned, dental crowns are a better choice when there is significant damage to the tooth.

Common examples of people who need crowns instead of porcelain veneers include:

  • Recovering Bulimics (because vomiting can eat away dental enamel)

  • Cancer patients (due to vomiting from chemotherapy)

  • People with other chronic illnesses that caused chronic vomiting

  • Abuse and accident victims that experienced dental trauma

It is important to point out that there are many different situations that could severely damage or wear down teeth and an experienced dentist has probably seen them all. A dental crown is a restoration procedure that is given to a tooth with a previous root canal, fracture or large filling. When the physical integrity of the tooth has been compromised, it can be repaired by applying a crown around the tooth and then having it locked int place with dental cement.

By combining both dental crowns and porcelain veneers, you can restore the function and aesthetic appeal of your teeth without compromising either.   


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