Straighten Teeth with Porcelain Veneers and Braces or Just Veneers?
Severe crowding, flaring and tipping of teeth – corrected in one month with porcelain veneers.
Severe crowding, flaring and tipping of teeth – corrected in two visits with porcelain veneers.
Should you straighten your teeth with Porcelain veneers and braces or just veneers?
The answer is not easy! Braces are certainly not always needed. See the photos here that show what is possible with porcelain veneers in our office!
There may be benefits depending on your choice of using porcelain veneers only or porcelain veneers and braces. In general, if you choose to straighten your teeth with veneers without doing braces you can expect the following: (I will explain all in more detail below)
- Considerably shorter treatment time
- More shaping of your teeth
- There may need to be compromises in the result
- May or may not be longer treatment time in the dentist’s chair
- Treatment will probably be more expensive
- More of your teeth may need veneers than if you were to complete braces before your veneer treatment
Item (1) above: Treatment that includes veneers and braces will often add 6 months or more to the overall treatment time)
Item (2) above: When using veneers alone, your dentist will need to adjust just enough on your teeth to achieve your desired cosmetic result. Your dentist should be able to review the pros and cons of this. Ask a lot of questions so that you understand the treatment that is proposed.
Item (3) above: Your dentist should be able to explain to you and/or show you photos and models that describe the result that you should achieve. If may be that a slight compromise in the alignment of the teeth will still be wonderful for you and will save you months of treatment time and possibly a considerable amount of money.
Item (4) above: If your dentist recommends veneers and braces it may be because just completing braces will decrease the number of veneers needed to achieve an ideal result. Veneers and braces may both be recommended to achieve your goals as either one alone may not be enough. Chipped or discolored teeth will still be chipped and discolored after braces.
Item (5) above: The combination of veneers and braces will almost always be more expensive but the end result may be worth it! Talk to your dentist to understand the recommendations.
Item (6) above: This may or may not be true and will depend on your specific treatment!
Severe crowding, flaring and tipping of teeth – corrected in one month with porcelain veneers.
Severe crowding, flaring and tipping of teeth – corrected in one month with porcelain veneers.
Our office will often recommend the combination of veneers and braces to achieve a specific result but as you can see here, we can also make it look like you have been through several years of braces and yet your treatment time was only a month or so! It is extremely important to select a dentist who excels at this type of treatment and who has your best interests at heart. Please visit our web site at www.juiegillisdds.com for more information about our office. Dr. Julie Gillis is an accredited member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and was the very first dentist in Colorado to achieve this honor. She now serves as an accreditation examiner for the AACD as well as on the American Board of Cosmetic Dentistry.