Porcelain Veneers

Well, if you're looking for a whiter and brighter smile, porcelain veneers are an option. Melissa Wilson talks to Dr. Spiker Davis about a new and more affordable way to recreate the natural look of teeth.

Our viewer Jim tells me he is considering getting some veneers, but he's a little concerned that he will get "chiclet teeth". So we've got the expert here to tell us what, what to do in this situation.

Well, we don't want chiclet teeth. Nobody likes those. They don't look natural. So the way we overcome that, is that we have a computer simulation, so we can take a picture of the patient's smile. And then on the computer, we can draw and create the image that he want. Longer, whiter, straighter, whatever they want.

So no guesswork. He's not going to have to figure out later while he's [crosstalk 00:00:41]

No, no, no. That helps us.

... that's too late.

Exactly. So we get to figure out before, so we've got a picture right here. So the upper picture is how they look now. And the lower picture is my drawing based on what they said they wanted. And so it's not me designing their teeth, it's their self.

And then if they say, "No, that's still not what I had in mind." You can tweak it a little bit?

Oh sure. We keep going until we get a picture they say, "That's what I want."

Uh-huh (affirmative).

Then we know what to do.

Okay, so then once you see the final picture, what's the likelihood that it actually looks like that? Is it pretty spot on?

It's pretty close. Yeah. It's obviously a simulation.

Right.

But it's close. And so everybody that I've... I've never had to redo a set once we've done this, because it's what they told me they wanted.

And then how long does it take for veneers? Is it a lengthy process?

Well, there's two basic ways to do veneers. One is you do some grinding on the teeth, you have to take impressions, send it to the lab, do all that kind of stuff. And I don't do very many of those, because I don't like grinding on teeth. So the first set of veneers I do are my favorite type. It's called porcelain veneers. And we do have to take an impression, but there's no grinding, there's no shots. So we take an impression of their teeth, we send it to the lab, and they come back and we put these veneers on. And it's like Lee press-on nails, just put them on. So patients love it, because no shots, no grinding.

The second type of veneers, instead of being porcelain, it's a new type that we have that are called edelweiss, and they're laser-centered composite, which basically means they're plastic. But so because they're plastic, and we don't have to send them to the lab, we have them here. So we just try them on, until we find one that fits, and we put them on. So the point is one appointment, two appointments.

Sure.

Somewhere over two weeks.

Okay, with the plastic, is that permanent or are those temporary? You just pop in and out?

No, you don't pop them in and out. They're on.

So it is on?

It's on.

Okay.

And they're glued on and they're bonded. They have about 4,000 PSI bond strength. So they're there for a long time.

Is that strong?

That's very strong.

Thanks for the information.

It's really strong. The problem, or where I get concerned is on the laser-centered, they haven't been around very long. So we don't know whether they're going to last 20 or 30 years. So this is one of the laser-centered composite veneers. They come in little packages, so we just tear it open, and they come in different sizes. So we find a size that fits your tooth. And so we are able to just stick it right on your tooth like that and bond it in there, and away you go.

Thanks for your help.

Yeah.

All right. And if you have a question to ask the doctor, you can reach out to Melissa on Facebook, or on Twitter. We're going to send it over to Mike.