Today we’re gonna do a little show and tell. One of the most common questions I get is, “Should I get veneers? Can I get crowns? What’s the difference? Why would you do one over the other?” And that’s a complicated question, and it really comes down to what your mouth is, how healthy your mouth is, those teeth, and what treatment is best for you.
The Main Difference Between Veneers and Crowns
The main difference between carillas y crowns is the amount of tooth reduction that we have to do to the underlying tooth. In general, veneers are basically, I like to think of ’em as press-on nails. They’re thin jackets of porcelain that we remove a little bit of tooth structure around the teeth, and we bond that on the tooth to give it the appearance of the ideal shape and size, and kind of orientation in the mouth.
So veneers are typically reserved for cases where we have some spacing issues, we have a little bit of misalignment, or we have some coloration issues. But the underlying teeth are generally healthy. If you have a lot of fillings or if you have an existing crown, or if there’s a lot of breakdown or decay. We can’t do veneers because veneers rely solely on the bond to the tooth structure.
Veneers Case Study #1: Subtle Enhancements for a Beautiful Smile
So take a look at this example. This young lady had a beautiful smile, but she was really unhappy with her front teeth. And so you can see she had some big tooth colored fillings on there, some spacing, some discoloration. She was really unhappy. The nice thing was that the underlying teeth underneath these were actually really healthy teeth.
So in this situation, I was able to get her in.
We always do a diagnostic wax up, which basically means I take some impressions of your mouth. I sit down with my lab technician, and I go ahead and wax up and design an ideal smile. And so you can see exactly what my vision is for your smile. So we brought her back, she saw it, she loved it, and the next appointment we got started with her veneers.
So the process we get you in gets you nice and numb so you don’t feel anything. And then we remove as minimal amount of tooth structure as we need to get to the healthy tooth underneath and provide kind of the contours of everything of the teeth underneath. Then we take an impression, I make you some nice temporary veneers, and then about three weeks later, you come back and we have the permanent individual jackets. So you can see this is where she started, and this is where she ended up.
So I’m very happy with the way this turned out. We were able to give her a really nice natural smile. And the nice thing about veneers is that when they’re done correctly, they can be very thin and they can look and mimic actual natural teeth. It’s a big fan of veneers, and I think in the right hands, in the right situation, they can be very minimally invasive and protect the teeth.
Veneers Case Study #2: Closing Gaps with Minimal Work
Here’s another example of veneers. This young man came to us with spacing in his teeth, didn’t generally like the appearance of the teeth, the gappy lucky didn’t like that.
So the nice thing about his case was the space was already there with very, very minimal modifications. We were able to create a nice permanent smile for him that closed those gaps and gave him a natural look.
When Do We Use Crowns Instead of Veneers?
So those are veneers. When do we do crowns instead of veneers? That’s a great question. So these are what veneers look like. On the other hand, if you have a tooth structure that is broken down or has more missing teeth, have failing crowns has larger fillings on it, at that point, we need to put a crown on there.
And the main difference between a crown and a veneer is a crown goes around the tooth and kind of protects the whole surface. And so it’s really good for protecting broken down teeth, but also it gives you a lot more control on the aesthetics and the long-term kind of protection of those teeth.
Crowns Case Study: A Life-Changing Smile at 72
So here’s an example of a patient who had been really unhappy with her smile for a long time. And you can see her gum tissue is healthy. She does a good job of cleaning, but her teeth just tetracycline stain wear and tear. She was always kind of self-conscious about her smile. One of those people who’s just the sweetest person in the world, but always covered her mouth with her hand when she smiled. And unfortunately, those teeth have gotten worn down to the point where we can’t do veneers on them because there’s not enough healthy tooth to protect those.
So here’s an example of the final product, and I think it turned out really well. She was really happy. She wanted more of a natural color to the crowns. She didn’t want the bright Hollywood fake. She was really happy with how everything turned out, and it, it was life changing for her because she’d always been self-conscious of her teeth. And here she was at 72, finally making the decision to do what she wanted to do. And I, I could not be happier for her, her smile, and it turned out really well.
The Emotional Power of Smile Design
And for me, that’s my favorite thing to do, is to help somebody who’s been struggling with something for so long and I can give them the gift of the smile that they’ve always wanted. And it just, it expands into every aspect of their life. You don’t even realize how self-conscious you are about covering your mouth or, you know, pursed lips or always closed mouth and smiles. And these are all things that with a good smile design, we can absolutely change your life and make your smile, make you happy.
¿Qué opción le conviene más?
Crowns and veneers are both great treatment options, but they rely on healthy teeth underneath. So if you have questions about whether you might need crowns or veneers or what the best treatment option for you is, we love having people come in and talk to us. Sit down treatment plan. Let me show you a vision for where we can take your mouth and your smile. And if it works for you, we’d love to take care of you.
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