Does Prepping Teeth for Veneers Hurt?
All of us desire to always put our best foot forward in life. That’s why so many people would do anything to improve themselves. Others may choose to lose a few pounds, while others will decide to go for complete body transformations. And others would do anything to have an awesome smile.
One of the ways that you can improve your smile is by getting dental veneers in Calgary. Dental veneers can transform your smile in a heartbeat and might be why most patients run to it. But before you get them, your teeth have to be prepped to create room for them.
Prepping teeth for veneers may seem like a complicated and painful process. So, continue reading as we unpack what happens during the dental veneers procedure.
A Fast Review of Veneers
Veneers have been around for almost a century. They were first used in movie sets as actors got to play different roles. In no time, it turned out to be an awesome tooth restoration. Now, veneers are better than ever.
You already understand how veneers work if you are familiar with clip-on nails. This is because veneers are tooth-like shells that are placed over your teeth’s front surface. As you may know, clip-on nails are nail-like shells bonded over nails to enhance their appearance. So, dental veneers operate under the same principle as clip-on nails since they are placed over damaged teeth to improve their appearance.
Dental veneers are crafted using two primary materials composite resin and porcelain. Porcelain is usually the preferred material since they have an uncanny resemblance to your natural teeth. Besides their amazing aesthetic appeal, porcelain veneers are more robust and stain-resistant, traits that most patients desire.
Veneers solve a myriad of issues, not just improving the appearance of damaged teeth. They can help you if your teeth are worn down, chipped, or even broken. They can also be used if you have misaligned, irregularly shaped, or uneven teeth. If you have unsightly gaps, dental veneers can also sort you out.
How Do You Prepare Teeth for Veneers?
In most cases, getting tooth veneers may take two or three visits. The first one is consultation; the other two visits are to make and apply the veneers. In most cases, you will not need to do anything before undergoing the procedure since the main thing will be to prep the teeth.
In essence, our dentist will begin the procedure by examining your teeth to ascertain whether you have enough enamel and see if this is the best option for your teeth. Once the examination is complete and you have been given the go-ahead, our dentist will proceed.
The next step is prepping teeth for veneers. This means that our dentist will reshape your tooth’s surface to create room for the veneer. Our dentist will carefully remove some of your teeth’s enamel during this process, nearly an equal amount to the veneer’s thickness.
A dental bur is used to remove the enamel, and it’s usually a small amount of enamel since the veneers are usually ultra-thin.
However, the amount of prep work to be done depends on the type of veneer you are going with, the method our dentist prefers to use, and the tooth’s position.
How Long Does It Take to Prep Teeth for Veneers?
The entire procedure may take up to three weeks, especially if you are going for porcelain veneers since they have to be crafted in a lab. But, removing some of the enamel from the teeth is not a lengthy procedure. The time it will take to prep the teeth is determined by the number of teeth that need veneers.
But in most cases, the entire prepping process shouldn’t take more than two hours.
Does Getting Dental Veneers Hurt?
A special tool known as a dental bur is used to remove some of your teeth’s enamel. There is usually very minimal interference with your teeth’s structure. In fact, no nerves will be touched, so you shouldn’t experience any pain.
You can experience some discomfort when the dental bur moves across the teeth. But this sensation shouldn’t last longer than the procedure. At times, the procedure can even occur without a patient experiencing any discomfort.
But to be on the safe side, there is always the option of using local anesthesia to numb the area to ensure that you are comfortable throughout the procedure. So, you will not feel any pain during the veneer procedure.
If you still desire to know more about dental veneers, contact us at our Calgary dental clinic, Poplar Dental, and we would love to help you.