What Are Dental Veneers?

Dental or cosmetic veneers are thin tooth-colored and tooth-shaped porcelain or composite materials attached to the front face of your teeth. The primary goal of a dental veneer is to hide all of the cosmetic flaws on your teeth, essentially transforming the external appearance of your teeth. Let’s say you have stains, cracks, and discoloration on your teeth, which affects the quality of your smile. You can attach a series of dental veneers to your teeth, thus concealing the underlying dental flaws. Externally, your teeth will look bright, white, stainless, even, and proportional, thus helping you achieve the perfect Hollywood smile.

Dental veneers offer instant transformation. Most of the other cosmetic dental services provide temporary results, or they are done over extended periods. Invisalign can straighten your teeth, but the process might take several months or years. Teeth whitening can brighten your smile, but you’ll need to undergo teeth whitening sessions every couple of months or years. Composite bonding can hide some of the chips and cracks on your teeth, but the results are temporary and only suitable for the tiniest cracks. If you have multiple cosmetic flaws, you will need multiple cosmetic treatments to address them, which is an expensive and long-drawn solution.

Dental veneers provide instant dental transformation, allowing you to achieve the perfect Hollywood smile within two sessions. However, if you’re getting permanent veneers, you need to be prepared to have some of the enamel shaved off your teeth. The dentist will remove some of the surface enamel from your teeth to accommodate the veneers, so the porcelain or composite resin will essentially replace your enamel. The procedure is painless and doesn’t lead to any complications, but it does mean you will always need veneers. Please contact a reliable cosmetic dentist to explore your dental veneer options. 

Types of Dental Veneers

1. Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain is the most powerful, natural, and effective material for dental veneers. Porcelain is a stainless material that resembles the shade, texture, and translucence of natural enamel — it even reflects light in the same way as enamel. Because of porcelain’s ability to mimic enamel, it’s the ideal material for dental veneers. Once you get porcelain veneers, they’re indistinguishable from natural enamel. Furthermore, porcelain is a stain-resistant material because it’s non-porous, so you don’t have to worry about teeth discoloration. Porcelain veneers are also extremely durable and can last for 15 to 20 years with optimal maintenance, so you will only need to replace them a few times in your whole life.

2. Composite Veneers

Composite resin is a specialized material commonly used for dental fillings. Composite resin can also be designed to produce natural-looking dental veneers, but the results aren’t as natural as porcelain veneers. Most people opt for composite veneers because they’re cheaper, but they’re also less durable, so they will have to be replaced after a few years. However, if you only have minor stains or chips on a few teeth, you can opt for composite resin bonding instead of veneers. Composite bonding is a process wherein the dentist applies the composite resin material to the surface of your teeth to hide cosmetic flaws so there’s no need to remove the enamel.

3. Snap-On Veneers

Snap-on veneers, also known as temporary veneers, are ideal for those resistant to the idea of modifying the natural structure of their teeth. Snap-on veneers are uniquely designed to be attached to your teeth without having to change the natural enamel content or structure. You can place the snap-on veneers yourself, and you can also take them off whenever you want. The snap-on veneers provide a general idea of how your teeth might look after porcelain veneers. But they’re not nearly as natural-looking as porcelain veneers. You can consider snap-on veneers if you want to “try” the results of a veneer before committing to porcelain veneers.

4. No-Prep Veneers

No-prep veneers are ultra-thin veneers that can be attached to your teeth without having to remove the natural enamel. Lumineers is the leading company for no-prep veneers. Their veneers are supposed to be extremely thin and discreet, so they can be bonded to the surface of your teeth without preparation. The primary benefit of no-prep veneers is that they’re reversible — you can take the veneers off and return to your natural teeth. But Lumineers can’t correct all cosmetic concerns, especially not as well as porcelain veneers. Since the no-prep veneers are extremely thin and translucent, they can’t brighten your teeth to the same degree as porcelain veneers.

Cost of Dental Veneers

Your cosmetic dentist will provide a complete overview of the cost of dental veneers during your evaluation. The cost of dental veneers depends on a wide range of factors:

  • The material of veneers (porcelain or composite)
  • The permanence of veneers (traditional veneers or no-prep veneers)
  • The location, size, and color of veneers
  • Other variable factors

Dental Veneers FAQs

Are veneers worth the cost?

Dental veneers are definitely worth the cost because they address all of your cosmetic goals at once — you don’t need to undergo multiple cosmetic treatments for different concerns over an extended period.

What do veneers look like?

The size and shape of your veneers will depend on your goals. The dentist will discuss all of the possible veneer shapes to help you select the ideal ones. Generally speaking, dental veneers look like natural teeth.

How Does Teeth Look After Dental Veneers?

After dental veneers, your teeth will look bright, white, perfectly symmetrical, and aligned. You will essentially have the perfect Hollywood smile.

Schedule a consultation for your dental veneers cost near me in Houston

URBN Dental is one of the leading dental clinics specializing in dental veneers in Houston. Our cosmetic dentists carefully examine your teeth and curate the ideal dental veneer treatment plan to make your teeth look perfectly straight, even, uniform, and bright. Please schedule an appointment to get an overview of your dental veneers cost near me in Houston.