What are Dental Veneers?

Dental veneers are thin custom-made tooth restorations, often made of porcelain, designed to look like natural teeth. These are bonded to the front surfaces of teeth, resulting in a dramatic and instant transformation of a person’s smile, especially when it comes to the colour and shape of the teeth.

Dental veneers are ideal for those with minor chips, as well as for those with highly discoloured, crooked, gapped, uneven, worn out or misshapen teeth. As these are customized for every patient, the result is a natural looking smile that will be hard to tell apart. In fact, they offer an almost instantaneous way to get a smile makeover, at a fraction of the price.

The number of veneers needed is dependent on a case-to-case basis. It isn’t necessary to have them for all the teeth, and you can easily choose to have them for a specific tooth, without affecting the surrounding teeth.

What are the types of dental veneers?

Dental veneers are usually made from composite resin or ceramic materials such as porcelain. While both are designed to serve the same purpose, there are some key differences between the two, notably the treatment time required, costs, aesthetics and durability.

Composite Veneers are made from a mixture of resin and powdered glass and they can be used to make teeth appear larger or whiter. These are layered and shaped directly over the surface of the tooth, and are bonded in place using a special wavelength curing light. Before bonding, the dentist will usually place them loosely over the tooth to check for alignment and fit. This would be a good time to review how they would look and request for changes, if any.

Porcelain Veneers are the more popular type today, due to their life-like aesthetics, and their higher stain resistance as compared to resin veneers. The modern porcelain veneer was developed in the 1980s and to this day is regarded as the most effective method of transforming the appearance of existing teeth without major dental treatment (eg. orthodontics or implants), offering a straighter, whiter and desirable smile. Veneers are an excellent solution for closing gaps between teeth, and creating a straight and white “Hollywood” smile. Porcelain veneers are treasured by cosmetic dentists for their natural appearance and lustre, strength and ability to repel staining.

The GlamSmile Advantage

GlamSmile veneers are the next generation of pure porcelain veneers, allowing ultra-thin, super strong veneers to be crafted – this means that there is often no need to severely reduce the structure of an otherwise healthy tooth. This is quite a revolutionary process in itself, as it means that you can retain more or nearly all of the original tooth structure.

The traditional dental veneer process would often involve painful grinding and shaving down anywhere between 0.3 – 0.5mm of teeth enamel so that the veneers can be positioned in line with the other natural teeth, and can bond on strongly with the original tooth. This is coupled with many anaesthetic shots, which would increase the number of hours in the dentist’s chair, and in turn, the treatment bill as well. Thankfully GlamSmile has been developed as a fast and pain-free way to a perfect smile, at a fraction of the traditional cost.

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