serving to improve the appearance of your smile
Porcelain Veneers – Boston, MA
Transform Your Smile
Do you find yourself smiling with your lips closed? Having noticeable flaws on your front teeth can make you feel self-conscious and prevent you from making the best first impression possible. Our cosmetic dentists at Kraft & Schrott Dental Associates can use customized porcelain veneers in Boston to transform your teeth so that you can enjoy a perfect, dazzling, natural-looking grin! Get in touch with us today if you’ve been thinking of giving your smile a makeover.
What are Porcelain Veneers?
Modern dental veneers are thin sheets of porcelain used to hide cracks, discoloration, gaps, and other common cosmetic flaws that might be present on your teeth. They’re permanently bonded to the front of your teeth and will be specially customized for you; that means their color and shape will be made to match the rest of your smile.
When you want to make several corrections, we can use porcelain veneers to address them all at once without the need for additional procedures. However, you’ll need to make sure your teeth and gums are healthy before we can put your veneers in place.
The Porcelain Veneers Procedure
When you decide to get porcelain veneers, you’ll need to schedule at least two – sometimes even three – appointments. During the first one, we’ll prepare your teeth before taking an impression and giving you temporary veneers. The temporary restorations will let you get used to your new appearance. In the meantime, the final veneers are handcrafted in a dental lab so that they’ll perfectly blend in with your smile. After a few weeks, we’ll receive the restorations and will then call you back to our office. After we’ve made any necessary last-minute adjustments, we’ll remove your temporaries so that the permanent ones can be fixed in place.
Benefits of Porcelain Veneers
Veneers are one of the most versatile cosmetic solutions we can offer, being able to make many changes simultaneously in order to make dramatic improvements. Other advantages of the procedure include:
- Minimal Invasiveness: Only a small amount of enamel needs to be removed to make room for the veneers; other than that, there’s no need for an involved dental procedure.
- Stain Resistance: Porcelain isn’t porous, so unlike your teeth it won’t be as easily affected by the dark-colored foods and beverages that can stain teeth.
- Durability: Veneers can last anywhere from 10 to 30 years if you take good care of them.
Understanding the Cost of Veneers
Wondering what the price of your veneers will be? Our dentists are happy to help you figure out how the treatment fits into your budget so that you can make a good financial decision. There are all sorts of factors that contribute to the cost of veneers in Boston, so the first step of getting veneers is to schedule a consultation with one of our cosmetic dentists; we’ll take this opportunity to review your circumstances and estimate the kind of price you can expect. In the meantime, here are some thing to keep in mind.
Cost VS Cosmetic Dentistry: What’s Right for Me?
Veneers may seem like the most ideal option up front, but you should look at the other types of treatments available to learn how each one affects your smile. They all have different cost points and help patients to achieve a variety of goals. Here are a few cosmetic options that you have to choose from:
- Invisalign – If you aren’t happy with the alignment of your teeth, you may find that Invisalign can best help you achieve a more uniform smile and optimal oral health. This type of treatment will generally cost several thousands of dollars overall, but it is a great choice when it comes to addressing alignment issues. However, Invisalign doesn’t help when it comes to recoloring or reshaping the teeth.
- Teeth Whitening –This is a quick, yet effective solution to surface staining. It’s much more affordable than many other cosmetic options, but it doesn’t address any flaws other than discoloration. Results can last anywhere from a couple months to several years depending on how well you take care of them. Touch-up treatments can help you to maintain your beautiful pearly whites.
- Direct Bonding – This is a minimally invasive procedure that can be completed in a single visit to the office. It is also one of the most adorable cosmetic solutions out there. If you want to correct minor flaws, like small chips and stains, it may be the best option for you. Bonding can last anywhere from 3 to 10 years before needing to be touched up or replaced.
- Veneers – Veneers aren’t the cheapest cosmetic solution out there, but they are the easiest way to completely transform multiple aspects of your smile, like the shape, color, and minor misalignment issues. This can all be completed in just a few appointments and last upwards of a decade with proper maintenance.
How to Make Veneers Affordable
Veneers aren’t usually covered by dental insurance since they are considered a cosmetic treatment, but this doesn’t mean that you’re completely out of luck. We work with CareCredit, a third-party financing company that can make paying for your treatment easier. CareCredit allows you to pay for dental care in manageable monthly installments with little-to-no interest attached.
To learn more about how much you can expect to pay for veneers, schedule a consultation with us. We are eager to help you achieve the smile of your dreams!
Veneers FAQs
Are veneers right for you? What can you expect from the procedure? The cosmetic dentists at Kraft & Schrott Dental Associates can answer any questions you have so that your smile transformation goes forward without a hitch. The questions listed on this page are a few examples of things patients ask us about veneers on a regular basis. Everyone has different concerns, of course, so feel free to reach out to us if you can’t find what you’re looking for here.
Are Veneers Permanent?
That depends on what you mean by “permanent.” The veneers themselves are not actually permanent since sooner or later they need to be replaced. However, the procedure to place veneers is considered a permanent one because it requires us to remove small amounts of enamel from your teeth. Enamel never grows back once it has been removed, so the teeth will be permanently altered and will have to be covered one way or another. So, if you choose to get veneers, you are committing to wearing either veneers or dental crowns over the selected teeth for the rest of your life. Keep that in mind when deciding whether or not the procedure is for you.
Is There Anything I Can’t Eat with Veneers?
The temporary veneers you wear while the permanent ones are being made aren’t made of the most durable materials, so you need to be especially careful not to eat anything that could damage them. Stay away from hard foods that can break them or sticky foods that could pull them off the teeth. Permanent veneers are more resilient and will let you enjoy most foods again, but it’s still better to avoid extremely hard or crunchy foods as much as possible. You also want to limit your intake of dark beverages; veneers are typically stain-resistant, but excessive exposure to dark pigments can eventually leave a mark.
Do Veneers Give You a Lisp?
Not every person who receives veneers develops a lisp, but some do have trouble pronouncing certain words after they first get their restorations. The tongue still needs to get used to the presence of veneers when you speak, as even the slightest difference in thickness can affect the way the tongue moves. You don’t have to do anything special to get rid of the lisp, as the tongue will eventually adjust on its own. That said, you can speed up the process by practicing the pronunciation of certain sounds, particularly “s” and “v.”
Can You Whiten Veneers?
Professional whitening procedures have no effect on veneers even if they’ve been stained. However, the still-exposed teeth around the veneers will still be affected, so if whitening is done after veneers are placed, the overall tone of your smile could become uneven. If you want to whiten your entire smile but are only getting veneers for a few teeth, it’s recommended that you get whitening first so that the veneers can be color matched afterwards. We can replace or shade veneers after they’ve become stained or discolored.