If you're considering different options for improving your smile and veneer treatment is among them, there are several important things to pay attention to. Veneers are thin ceramic shells that tightly cover the front surface of the teeth. Veneers mainly serve to correct imperfections in the smile by giving the teeth an optimal shape and color according to the patient's facial features. Today this treatment is one of the most effective ways to give yourself the perfect smile you've always dreamed of. To help you decide whether ceramic veneers are the corrective option you need, in the following lines I'd like to highlight 6 important facts about this type of treatment.

1. Treatment usually takes more than one visit

Patients shouldn't expect to walk out with perfect-looking teeth right after the first consultation. There are several important steps that need to be completed before the final restorations are fixed in place. To begin with, we analyze the smile, the teeth, the bite and the gums to make sure this type of treatment is the most suitable for the patient. In some situations we might even find an even less invasive solution to the problem we want to correct. For example, to improve color, in certain cases we could do a few whitening procedures that would also be effective enough. Or, for minor chips on the edge of the front teeth, we can turn to a composite restoration – the same material light-cured fillings are made from. When larger corrections are needed and you want truly long-lasting results, for many patients the best treatment remains placing veneers.

2. Your new smile will be fully personalized

One of the reasons veneers look so natural and beautiful is that every project is individual, created to match the patient's facial features and the line of their smile. Veneers are a great choice when we're aiming for a complete change in the shape or color of the teeth. To create your individual digital and physical smile design, the dentist first needs to gather a significant amount of information in the form of photos and videos. Depending on the equipment available in the office, at this visit the dentist takes an analog or digital impression. Personally, I prefer taking a digital impression, because it's far more accurate and the procedure itself is extremely comfortable for the patient. At Sofien Riahi Dental Clinic we have a 3D scanner that captures a 3D image of the patient's teeth and bite, which I can then use to create the individual design. This allows us, at the very next visit, to test live how the patient looks and feels with the design created for them, even before we've actually started working on the teeth themselves.

3. Patients need to wear temporary veneers for a few weeks

Before the final veneers are permanently fixed in place, I recommend giving the patient the chance to take a kind of "test drive" of their new smile. For this, over a period of one to several weeks it's good for them to wear temporary veneers that fully match the shape of the permanent ones. This trial saves a lot of unpleasant surprises when the permanent veneers are finally fixed and guarantees perfect results at the end of the treatment.

4. You won't feel any pain during treatment

I believe that creating a new smile should be a truly pleasant process for both the dentist and the patient, and pain definitely has no place in it. To spare any discomfort while preparing the teeth for veneers, I recommend administering anesthesia during the work. To make sure my patients don't even feel the anesthetic being given, I even numb the gum beforehand with another special anesthetic (similar to a cream) that's applied locally and even has a pleasant strawberry taste :) Pain-free treatment is definitely an important part of my vision of modern dental care.

5. Not all veneers require grinding down the enamel

There are ultra-thin types of veneers that don't require any grinding of the tooth enamel at all. They're called non-prep veneers and are suitable, for example, for patients with larger gaps between the teeth.

6. Fantastic results at the end of treatment depend directly on the dentist's training and experience

Placing veneers is an aesthetic procedure, but at the same time we mustn't forget that it's also a serious dental treatment with long-term and irreversible consequences. To be sure you'll wear your new smile with confidence and pleasure at the end of the treatment, I advise you to devote enough time and attention to choosing an aesthetic dentist. At the initial consultation, ask to look through their portfolio of previous cases and don't hesitate to ask questions. After all, this is your smile, and only you can decide whom to trust and how best to care for it.