Planning to get veneers to brighten up your smile?
Veneers are used to improve the appearance of your teeth if they’re crooked, misshaped, stained or when they look too small. Currently, getting veneers is the best option available if you want to get rid of tooth gaps instantly without orthodontic procedures. Getting veneers is also the only viable option to correct teeth that look much too small, or badly misshaped teeth.
But how long do veneers last? If you’re deciding whether or not to get veneers that question is important. To get veneers is a lifelong commitment. You’ll have to replace them if they ever start chipping and breaking. You can’t just have them removed and leave the tooth. This means you’ll have to invest relatively the same amount to replace your veneers as you initially spent to get them. You need to know what veneers cost and how long they typically last so you compare the financial cost to what you’ll be getting.
How Do Veneers Work?
The veneer itself is made of porcelain and looks like a tooth when viewed from the front. When viewed from the side, however, it’s clear to see that a veneer is much thinner than a natural tooth. This means a veneer is almost like a shell. Because the shell is curved and shaped like a tooth, it looks like a full tooth from the front, but when it’s turned, you see that it’s actually paper thin. This tooth shell is then placed over your natural tooth to enhance its appearance. A veneer covers the front and the bottom edge of a tooth, but not the back.
How Long Do Veneers Last?
Your dentist can’t make promises when it comes to how long your veneers will last. A lot of things, including the way you take care of your veneers, will determine their life expectancy.
That said, the typical life expectancy of veneers is 10-15 years. So if you’re getting porcelain veneers, it’s safe to assume they’ll last you at least 10 years. In some cases, however, veneers can last 20 years or longer. To be safe, you can expect to get about 12 years of happy smiling from a set of veneers before they’ll need to be replaced.
To take care of your veneers will be the same as taking care of your natural teeth. Brush twice daily, don’t bite on hard things and don’t clench your teeth. If you take good care of your natural teeth in those ways, you ought to be just fine getting veneers placed. Ask your dentist for additional advice on keeping your veneers looking their best if you want to know more.
Will Veneers Be Worth It?
Remember, the worth of veneers isn’t measured in how your teeth will look. The worth of veneers should be measured in the confidence boost you’ll be getting from them.
If you regularly feel self-conscious about your teeth and you feel like it affects your quality of life, then veneers can definitely be great for you. Smiling should make you feel happy and confident, not self-conscious and uncomfortable. If you experience confidence issues based on your ugly teeth, your life will be better with veneers.
If, on the other hand, you don’t regularly think about how your teeth look and you don’t feel like they affect your self-image negatively, veneers can also still be a worthwhile investment. However, in this case veneers are an option you should think about more carefully. If you just want your teeth to look a little bit better, you could consider some other options like deep bleaching rather than veneers.
Don’t do something you might regret later. Think about what it will mean to you to have veneers placed. Will it really be worth the money you spent, or are you going to feel like it might have been a mistake? Ask yourself about what your expectations are. How do you expect to feel after getting veneers? Is the cost going to be worth the confidence boost?
The choice is yours to make. Unlike with restorative dentistry, there’s no right or wrong decision here. The procedure to follow isn’t unquestionable. This is about your feelings rather than being only about your dental health. It’s more complicated than something that got broken and needs fixing.
Choosing what you want as soon as possible matters. If your teeth make you feel uncomfortable to smile, you might regret having delayed the decision to get veneers once you actually have them, because then you’ll know you could’ve felt confident sooner. Have you been considering getting veneers for a few years now, and do you feel strong about wanting them? There’s a very good chance you won’t ever regret the choice!
