The short version
- Chipped and cracked front teeth are usually covered, not replaced.
- A veneer restores the original outline. Nothing is extracted.
- A crack running through the tooth is a crown case, not a veneer case.
- Telling those two apart takes an examination, not a photograph.
- Health problems are treated before anything cosmetic goes on top.
- Chipped edge
- Veneer
- Cracked through
- Crown
- Tooth missing
- Referred out
- Decay present
- Treated first
People with several cracked or chipped front teeth often assume the only route to an even smile is having them replaced. That is usually wrong, and the assumption stops them asking at all.
A chipped tooth is still your tooth
Implants replace teeth that are gone. A tooth that is chipped, cracked at the edge or worn down is still there, and in most cases it can be covered rather than replaced.
Veneers go over the front of the existing teeth. The chipped edge remains underneath; what the eye sees is the restored outline.
What veneers correct here
Chipped and broken edges. The most common reason people come in about their front teeth, and the case veneers handle best.
Staining. Whitening is an option for discoloration but it is not permanent and it can leave teeth sensitive. Porcelain does not stain, which makes it the practical answer for someone who does not want to think about coffee and red wine again.
Crooked or misaligned teeth, within limits. The teeth are not moved. The edges and gaps that make them read as crooked are evened out, which for a cosmetic complaint is usually what was wanted.
When the tooth needs a crown instead
This is the part that gets left out, and it matters more than anything else on this page.
A veneer covers a front surface. It does not rebuild a tooth and it does not carry bite load. Where a tooth is cracked through rather than chipped at the edge, or has been heavily filled over the years, or has broken below the gum line, it needs a crown, which encases the whole tooth.
Putting a veneer on a tooth that needs a crown is a repair that fails, and it fails after you have paid for it.
Telling the difference takes an examination and often an X-ray, not a photograph and not a web page. It is the first thing Dr. Back checks.
What crowns do is on the dental crowns page.
The question behind the chips
Several chipped and worn front teeth is rarely a series of accidents. It is usually grinding, and grinding that has gone unaddressed for years.
Treating the teeth without addressing the grinding means treating them again. A night guard belongs in the plan from the start, which is why the examination looks at the bite and the wear pattern rather than only at the teeth that bother you.
The order things happen in
Anything affecting the health of the tooth is treated before anything cosmetic goes on top. Veneers do not treat decay and they do not slow it. A veneer placed over an untreated problem conceals it, which is worse than leaving it visible.
For teeth that are sound but damaged at the surface, the treatment is straightforward and the result arrives in a matter of appointments. What those appointments involve is in what happens at a veneer appointment.
Getting it looked at
Sarasota Smile Design is on Clark Road in Sarasota, a short drive from Nokomis, Osprey and Venice, open Monday to Thursday, 8am to 4pm.
Call 941-927-5411, or see porcelain veneers.
