4 Common Dental Veneer Alternatives

Whether you’re looking for the best approach to restoring your teeth’s appearance and getting your irresistible smile back or finding the right way to improve your imperfections, dental veneers could be the solution to help you achieve your goal.

However, what happens when you’re still uncertain and don’t know if veneers are the right option for you or your pocket?

Placing dental veneers can be used for restorative or strictly cosmetic reasons. These thin “sheets” are attached to the surface of your teeth, and their process is different depending on their material and your individual needs.

Their placement requires a few recurring appointments and a little patience from you for their preparation since they are custom.

Dentistry evolves continuously, and dental veneers have become one of the most preferable and popular dental procedures since they are more affordable, less invasive, and offer more excellent results than earlier practices.

Before rejecting or investing in them, we recommend learning everything about dental veneers and what to expect from their placement.

Let’s quickly review what can we fix with dental veneers:

• permanent discolouration or stains on your teeth,
• deformations such as misaligned or misshapen teeth,
• chips, gaps, or cracks on your teeth,
• and lastly, worn-down teeth.

There are 4 different dental procedures that can be considered alternatives to veneers targeting specific dental issues. These include crowns, dental bonding, teeth whitening, and orthodontic treatments.

Dental crowns are often compared with veneers, and many people tend to believe they are the same. Unfortunately, that’s not true.

Crowns cover the entire tooth like a cap and not just the surface as veneers. They can fix cracked and damaged teeth as well as decayed teeth. Dental professionals also use crowns to cover a tooth after a root canal treatment to restore their patient’s healthy-looking smile.

If you have a minor crack or a chipped tooth, then veneers could be a better choice since crowns are preferred when we have more severe and extensive damages. However, if another issue is involved like, for example, the presence of decay, a crown could be a better option.

Dental veneers cost is not easy to calculate as it depends on many factors, like how many you need (if you’re improving more than one tooth), insurance coverage, your area and many more. So to accurately calculate dental crown or veneer costs, we need to evaluate each patient’s condition and needs.

Both crowns and veneers are permanent solutions, their placement is pretty similar, and their aftercare doesn’t require anything specific.

But even though they share many similarities and both can fix a broken tooth, which one will be used completely relies on each patient. So trust a dental professional to recommend the preferable approach for you.

Another common alternative to veneers is dental bonding. During this procedure, your doctor will apply a special material (usually composite resin) directly to your tooth.

According to the American Dental Association, it’s mostly useful to repair a chip or a minor crack on your tooth. It is applied in one appointment, it has really natural results and is less expensive than veneers.

However, bonding is not stain-resistant, and it tends to darken over time. Also, it’s not as customisable and usually not as long-lasting as veneers.

Whether you proceed with dental bonding or veneers, consider the possibility of using a whitening method in the future.

Remember that bonding materials do not respond the same as your natural teeth. So to have a complete and natural result, you could either replace your bonding or invest in a dental veneer.

If you’re just looking to get a whiter and brighter smile, this is probably a better and usually less expensive option for you. Choosing teeth whitening over veneers thought requires that there aren’t any issues that need to be fixed.

Teeth whitening can be done at the office or in the comfort of your home. There are different methods and substances that your doctor might recommend to get the best result.

However, if you have severely stained or discoloured teeth, then veneers or bonding is the solution for you since whitening methods aren’t effective in hard-resisting stains.

As mentioned above, with veneers, we can also improve some issues involving misaligned teeth, that’s why some orthodontic treatments might be used as alternatives.

However, suppose you aim to straighten your teeth, then veneers are not your choice. Traditional orthodontic treatments still remain the best option to correct your teeth.

There are some patients that might need a combination of these treatments, but for restoring structural problems braces are recommended. Veneers can be an alternative for mild misalignment and for purely cosmetic reasons.

If you would like to further explore your treatment options, feel free to contact us for a consultation appointment.

Reading and researching online is great and recommended, but if you haven’t visited a dental professional yet to discuss your options, you should start there.

Find a team that you trust so you can get your individual plan specifically prepared for your needs. Your dentist will evaluate your oral health, detect if there are other issues involved and recommend the best approach.

Many people, even though they trust their doctor, don’t always feel comfortable sharing their feelings.

You should always remember that your dentist wants to offer the best treatment to give you back your confidence and health.

Nothing should be left unanswered, and anything should be discussed. If, for example, you can’t afford a specific procedure or you’re anxious about some steps of the process, you should discuss it with your doctor.