Porcelain veneers may be recommendable for you if you feel self-conscious about your smile due to chips, cracks, or even discoloration on your teeth. They’re reliable and can be customized to match the shape of your teeth and even face.
Therefore if your teeth are cracked, have spaces, or discolored, be sure to set up a consultation with a certified cosmetic dentist. They will help you choose the right porcelain veneers and install them for you.
Do Veneers get Discolored?
To begin with, porcelain veneers are usually made of stain-resistant materials. Not all veneers are made of stain-resistant materials though. Therefore, some may become susceptible to staining with time, most commonly if the ones you’re using are made of composites.
Composite resin veneers do get stained, but porcelain stains very rarely get discolored or stained. Ideally, composite stains can get stained from the same agents that cause staining on real teeth.
For instance, if you smoke, chances are high; you will develop brownish or yellowish stains on your composite veneers. Similarly, you may also notice stains on your composite veneers if you regularly consume colored drinks like red wine, tea, or even coffee.
Stains usually develop on natural teeth because they’re porous. Therefore, when you drink strongly colored or acidic drinks, the pores on your teeth may get soaked up in the staining compound of these substances, leaving you with unsightly stains on your teeth.
Unlike natural teeth, which quickly get stained because of their porous nature, porcelain veneers are not porous. They’re made from a completely smooth material, which helps protect them from getting stained.
Here’s the catch-22; there is a risk of your porcelain veneers getting stained from the point where they attach to the edges of your natural teeth. For instance, if you have had them for five years, you will notice some bits of staining around the edges of the veneers.
Now, if you notice that you’ve developed stains on the edge of your porcelain veneers, we don’t recommend grabbing whitening toothpaste and trying to use it to whiten those edges. They may only scratch your porcelain veneers and impact their quality.
Here’s what you should do instead; be sure to get in touch with your cosmetic dentist to polish the veneers and restore that brilliant shine. Your porcelain veneers may also get stained if you’ve used them for too long, past the expected lifetime.
Therefore, if you’ve been using your porcelain veneers for around or over 15 years and you notice that they’re beginning to develop unsightly stains, please schedule an appointment with a qualified cosmetic dentist to advise you on the best way forward. During the consultation, the physician will examine the veneers and recommend a new set if they believe that that replacing them would help.
Alternatively, they may also just polish the veneers to make them shine again. To make your porcelain veneers stand the test of time, we recommend visiting your dentist regularly, sticking to a proper oral hygiene regimen, and avoiding potentially harmful foods.
Can Porcelain Veneers be whitened?
A qualified cosmetic dentist will always help you select the right veneers depending on your teeth’ color or the whiteness you wish to achieve with this treatment. Even though you can get a specific shade that matches your natural teeth, you mustn’t assume them to be having similar characteristics as the natural teeth.
Ideally, the veneers can only help you bite food as the natural teeth but they do not respond to whitening treatments like the way your natural teeth would respond to the treatments. Therefore, if you’re contemplating getting porcelain veneers to be sure to understand how they’d improve your appearance and get the specific crowns that match your preferences.
This is important because porcelain veneers cannot be whitened. Most traditional whitening treatments cannot work on porcelain veneers, therefore, making it difficult to whiten them once you’ve got them installed in your mouth.
Perhaps your only concern would be if your natural teeth get stained after you’ve got the porcelain veneers installed. If this happens, there will be a notable contrast between the natural teeth and the crowns.
To manage a condition like this, you will need an appointment with your cosmetic dentist to recommend the best teeth whitening treatment for you. To ensure that your porcelain veneers match your teeth, you must plan ahead of time.
For instance, if some of your teeth are stained but you only want the veneers on a few cracked or chipped teeth, you can get the stained teeth whitened before installing the veneers. If you’re having the porcelain veneers installed already, you can also ask your cosmetic dentist to replace them for you.
Can Porcelain Veneers Break?
Although porcelain veneers are durable and reliable, it is also important to understand that they can crack, break, or even chip. Some of the possible reasons for your veneers breaking may be due to the cosmetic surgeon installing them for you.
For instance, if you let an incompetent provider install your porcelain veneers, there are chances; they will fail to do the bite correctly. If the bite is done poorly, you will be putting extra force on the prosthetics when biting, therefore making them crack or chip.
Other than a poorly done bite, an unqualified cosmetic dentist may also fail to bond the veneers properly. If they are not bonded correctly, there is a major risk of bacteria leaking underneath your veneers, therefore, making them turn black or grey.
If any of these happens, your only way out will be to replace them. Your porcelain veneers may also crack if you bite nonfood items.
With that being said, ensure that you don’t use your new teeth to open packages or even bottles. You should also avoid chewing on ice or your nails. Use them only to chew food and maintain them properly, as recommended by your cosmetic dentist.
Wrapping Up
Porcelain veneers don’t stain easily, are easy to care for and can give you a great service if you take care of them as recommended by your cosmetic dentist.
If you’re not sure about what veneers are or the process of getting them is, please check https://dentistatorchard.com/veneers/ for more information.
