How Long Do Veneers Last?

October 25, 2013 alexnguyen

When done properly in a health dentition with proper care and maintenance, veneers can last a long time. In the past I have posted some cases that have been in the mouth for over ten years. Here is a case I delivered five years ago. The porcelain veneers are still looking as pretty as the day I delivered them. Note the details in the characteristics of the porcelain which make them look realistic. The key to beautiful veneers is to recreate exactly what nature has intended for real teeth to look and function.

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Alex Nguyen, DDS is a Saratoga Dentist who practices General Dentistry, Cosmetic, and Implant Dentistry. For over 20 years the practice has been serving the residents of Santa Clara County and San Francisco Bay Area.

Restoring Worn out Front Teeth

September 15, 2013 alexnguyen

Restoring worn out front teeth is all about the details. Properly designed restorations using the right materials, technique, and collaboration with the right ceramist can bring back years of life to the front teeth. Here is an example of a case where we used a combination of teeth whitening, crowns, and veneers on the four front teeth to restore this gentleman's smile.

Images of actual patients of Alex Nguyen, DDS are Copyrighted and Digitally Embedded to track Unauthorized Use.

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Can We do Veneers without Grinding away Tooth Structure?

August 24, 2013 alexnguyen

Depending on the condition of your teeth: Yes, we can. The answer is custom fabricated Prepless Veneers. A prepless veneer is a super thin layer of porcelain that can be bonded on top of your existing tooth structure to change shape, contour, and color of your teeth. In that sense, no tooth structure is removed. However, prepless veneers cannot be used when we are trying to change the shade of extremely dark teeth. Also, in some cases where severe misalignments of teeth are to be corrected, prepless veneers may not be the solution.

The best looking prepless veneers are fabricated via the hands of extremely talented and artistic dental ceramists. These artists must be able to envision how much porcelain is needed to create the proper form of the teeth. On another level, the ceramist must understand and envision how the colors of the natural tooth and the colors of the veneer will blend together to create the desired change.

To the untrained eyes, a piece of prepless veneer may look like it a cloudy white piece of glass, yet when placed on the tooth the restoration simply comes to life.

Outside the mouth, the prepless veneer is so thin it almost looks translucent. However, once bonded onto the tooth, the porcelain is extremely strong. One technical note that makes prepless veneers different is that fine adjustments of contours and shape are done after the porcelain is bonded in. The nature of the type of porcelain used in these cases allows the dentist to be able to make customized fine adjustments and to polish the porcelain to a super high luster finish.

Case selection and handling by the right clinicians is crucial. However, I believe that with the right combination of dentist/ceramist team prepless veneers offer our patient a fantastic treatment option to enhance the smile effectively and conservatively.

Below is a photo of a prepless veneer I recently placed.

Images of actual patients of Alex Nguyen, DDS are Copyrighted and Digitally Embedded to track Unauthorized Use.

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Crowns Gone Wild !

April 1, 2012 alexnguyen

This patient received a total of 22 crowns to mask out her tetracycline stained teeth. The case result was compromised on multiple levels. The most severe problem in this case is the inflammation of the gum around each tooth.

The margins of the crowns were placed too deep inside the gum pockets. This problem is known as "violation of the biologic width." In such situations the gum is unable to remain healthy. Severe inflammation occurs in the initial stages, and the inflammation will eventually cause bone loss in the same area. You can see a line of redness around the neck of the teeth. Light pressure in these areas is enough for the gum to bleed profusely.

Furthermore, the diagnostic X-rays reveal root canals were done for all the front upper and lower teeth. According to the patient, the root canals were done in conjunction with the crown treatments... for no apparent reason.

This truly is a case of "Crowns Gone Wild!"

To change a tetracycline stained smile, we do not need to crown every single tooth. We also don't need a root canal for every crown we place. Likewise, the gum should not be chronically inflamed.

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Anterior Teeth Restorations - It's Not Just About Color Match

March 17, 2012 alexnguyen

Restoring anterior teeth is all about recreating what nature has intended for your teeth to look like. We have to match the adjacent teeth as well as the opposing teeth in multiple dimensions: Shape, Contour, Length, Surface Texture, Color, and even the Gum Position. Here is a case where the patient's specific request was to recreate the original two front teeth.

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Images of actual patients of Alex Nguyen, DDS are Copyrighted and Digitally Embedded to track Unauthorized Use.

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