Are Veneers Permanent? Are Veneers Covered By Insurance?

We get a lot of questions about veneers, it's a hot topic. You see it on TV all the time and it's advertised as "The One Thing To Make You Beautiful," (your mouth beautiful). They are the prettiest thing that we do in dentistry that is made of porcelain veneer, they're beautiful and if they're done right, they look natural. That's the key.

There's two types of veneers, though. There's the porcelain that we just spoke of and there's a tooth colored material that is molded and bonded on your tooth at the appointment. The dentist does the contouring and the attachment and you walk out with one appointment venire.

It is, though, tooth colored filling material. And it will break easier, it will stain easier, it will chip easier than the porcelain veneers. Porcelain veneers are going to be strong and last a lot longer.

When we get ready to make veneers, we like to do them in sets. You can do just one, but it's going to have to look like the other teeth around it. If you want to do a set and get a full effect, look in the mirror. You show the top eight teeth. When most people smile, they show the top eight teeth. Look and see.

So eight is what you need if you want the enhancement and the cosmetics. Eight is what you need to have on the upper. You don't show your lower teeth when you smile, most people don't. So, that's up to you.

Some people say, "Can you put veneers all the way around - on every tooth?" I wouldn't. Not for my money. They're not made to put on molars (where you crunch and bite down) and you don't see a molar on the side (where the veneer goes) hardly ever, unless you're looking for it. A dentist who is looking for it sees it, but you hardly ever see it otherwise.

When we get ready to do one though, we do our lab work, we measure, we take pictures, we have the lab help us contour and we look at the wax up of what we want before we even begin.

Then we come in, (second appointment) and we prepare the teeth, make a rubber mold and put acrylic temporaries on there (after we make the mold) and you go about your merry way.

Two or three weeks later, you come back and we bond. It's a combination of bonding and cementing the veneers onto the teeth. And that's a very strong thing. I have them last sometimes twenty, twenty five years, sometimes not. It depends on the person.

It depends on how your mouth works, how you use your mouth. Do you brucks and grind? Do you clench? You know, that's going to make them not work as long. They very rarely break to the point where they all just come off (the whole thing), which is amazing to me (because they're so thin). But, that's the way that you want to do it, where if you don't do it that way, you're going to wind up with pasting a little finger-nail like veneer on a tooth that hasn't been prepared.

And it's either going to be too fat, too long, too wide, too bulbous. It's going to be the first thing that enters the room when you walk through the door. So you don't want that. Try to get away from that. You want them to look natural. You don't want anybody to know you've had any teeth work done. You want them to think that you were born with good teeth. That's what you're looking for. And porcelain veneers will do that.

Now, like I said, if you have a badly decayed tooth or a tooth with a broken history; or if you have a crown on your front tooth, you can’t veneer a crown. You have to take it off and put another crown on it.

When I said that crowns may be the best thing in a case like that, you can have a porcelain crown made with no metal in it, and it's just about as pretty as a veneer and it's a whole lot stronger and will last a whole lot longer.

The next thing is, everybody wants to know how much it costs and is it good for me?

It's a cosmetic procedure, basically, and basically that's the way insurance companies look at it. And if you have any experience with insurance companies, you know they try not to pay for stuff. And they tend to not pay for veneers. What they pay and how much it's going to cost you, is up to you and your insurance company basically. I take all insurance, but the patient has to pay the balance. Some of them are good, like I said, some of them just throw it in the garbage can. So, it depends on your company and your policy.

Set Up Your Free Veneers Dentist Consultation

As with any dental procedure, it’s important to set up your free consultation with Dr. White to find what would work best for you to help improve your overall appearance and smile.

To set up your free veneers dentist near me consultation, fill out the form below or contact us and one of our dental specialists will be happy to set up your free consultation with Dr. Gary L White.