What constitutes a great smile? Angelina Jolie’s blinding teeth whiteness, or your perfectly aligned, but still not so white teeth? Tricky question, isn’t it? A perfect smile has a few key elements: strong, healthy teeth, perfectly aligned as they were positioned by using a ruler, smooth surface with no cracks or fine lines and finally, a level of whiteness that’s near blinding.
All this sounds impossible and it actually is impossible. At least naturally. With all the coffee drinking habits, sweet pleasures, food, wine and all the other stuff we consume on daily basis, it is impossible to maintain the milky colour of our natural teeth. Also, as we get older, teeth tend to become weaker, deteriorate and start to crack resulting in eventual falls. However, there are medical advancements that come to the rescue in the form of teeth veneers.
What are teeth veneers?
They’re sort of a water-thin shell of tooth-coloured material designed and used for covering the front surface of the tooth in order to improve its appearance. They’re mainly custom-made and as such, when bonded to the front surface of the teeth, they change their appearance in colour, shape, size and length. The eventual result is a much-better looking tooth. Veneers are mainly made of porcelain, which is why they’re commonly referred to as porcelain veneers, so don’t be confused when you look to schedule your teeth veneers appointment – it’s the same thing.
All the reasons to have them
Besides the desire to have good-looking teeth, teeth veneers are often used to fix some other dental problems such as highly discoloured teeth from various reasons like root canal treatments which are made with chemicals like tetracycline that stains the natural tooth, or fluoride that has the same side effect. Teeth that are worn down can also be fixed with teeth veneers, and teeth that are chipped and broken will benefit the most as they’ll become smoother and finer.
How is the procedure done?
The instalment of veneers comes down to three simple steps: examination of your teeth that requires your active participation first. You should explain to your dentist what is it that you want to achieve and how do you want your teeth to look like. The dentist will examine the condition of your teeth and he/she’ll conclude whether it’s okay or not to put veneers. Next, the dental technicians will prepare your teeth for installing veneers. Teeth are cleaned by removing a ½ millimetre of enamel from the tooth surface making space to install the veneer. Finally, the veneers get permanently bonded or cemented on your teeth through changing the colour a few times in order to perfectly match it.
So all in all, just after 1-2 weeks of preparations, proper cleanup and maintenance of your natural teeth, you’ll have new teeth designed to make you look just like you copied Jolie’s smile. All white and glossy, perfectly aligned and sparkly, ready to put in the shadow the strongest flash in existence.
