One of our long-term patients, Mary from Taylors Hill, is thinking about getting porcelain veneers as part of her smile makeover. After seeing a lot of teeth shaving reels on Instagram, she felt a little concerned about them and asked me, do I need to shave my teeth for veneers? This is a question from many patients, so I created this video to explain how veneers work.

To get started, dental veneers are thin, shell-like coverings that are applied to the front of a tooth to repair teeth that are discoloured or slightly out of place. They may also be used to strengthen and cosmetically fix a chipped or cracked front tooth. Many patients love that they can be used to quickly straighten their teeth and improve or upgrade their smile.

Veneers are used for certain imperfections on the teeth that show when you smile. For example, they are often used to cover teeth that are stained because of trauma or medication, when teeth whitening may not help. A dental veneer is a great solution to cover just one tooth or a few teeth, to match your other teeth in shape and color.

Veneers can also be used to fill in gaps between teeth, lengthen a tooth that is too short, or help a crooked tooth appear to be in line with your other teeth, eliminating the need for a full set of braces. Dental veneers may be made of composite or porcelain, but most patients prefer porcelain because it looks and feels more like a natural tooth, and lasts longer than composite.

But we can’t simply glue a veneer onto your tooth. In order to secure a veneer into place so it functions and looks like your own tooth, your natural tooth is slightly shaved to create space so that it will hold the bond between your tooth and the veneer. And if no space is present, your veneers can appear too big or bulky.

While it might sound a bit scary, in reality only a tiny bit of your tooth is shaved. This allows us to create a better and more secure fit. Typically, only about 0.3-0.7 mm of the tooth enamel will be removed for porcelain veneers. This is such a minimal amount that it can be done with only a local anesthetic for most patients.

So I hope you have a better understanding about teeth shaving for dental veneers.

If you are looking at upgrading your smile with porcelain veneers, we would love to look after you. Here at Dental House Group, we offer flexible payment plans, which means you can get your dream smile faster!

Simply give us a call on 1800 GENTLE, DM us on social media, or complete the form on our website, and we will help you organise a smile consultation.

See you in the next video.

BOOK NOW

DISCLAIMER:

The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. Dental House Group does not make any representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the content.

The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional personal diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your dentist or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a dental or medical condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read or seen on the Site.

Services we mentioned: