Veneer

What is a veneer?

A veneer is a thin porcelain shell that is applied to the surface of a tooth. It serves to improve aesthetics and is therefore mainly used in the visible front area. Since it is mostly an aesthetic treatment, a veneer is not paid for by the statutory health insurance. Private health insurances only reimburse the treatment costs in exceptional cases, for example if there may be professional disadvantages due to ugly front teeth. The costs for a restoration with a veneer are relatively high and are on average around € 500.00 depending on the amount of work.

What are the indications for a veneer?

In the case of severe discoloration of the teeth and to correct slight misalignments or to close gaps between teeth that are not too large, veneers can be used improved aesthetics can be used. The alternative would be a plastic or ceramic crown. To make a crown you would have to tooth however, they are ground, which would result in the loss of valuable tooth substance. The regulation by a veneer avoids grinding the tooth for a restoration with a crown.

How is the treatment with a veneer?

The enamel surface of the front surface of the tooth is ground down to a maximum depth of 1.0 mm.

After taking a tooth impression, a thin shell is made from porcelain in the dental laboratory, which is then attached to the ground tooth surface by the dentist.
After careful drainage, the surface is first cleaned and etched. The inner surface of the veneer is also etched to allow a good connection between the enamel and the veneer. The porcelain bowl is then attached to the surface of the tooth using an adhesive, which is a composite.

This fixation is very durable and the veneer is very rarely detached. However, if the enamel is very heavily fluoridated (please refer Fluoridation), the fixation is more difficult, so no high fluoridation should be performed before attaching a veneer.

A further development of the veneer technique is the possibility of producing extremely thin porcelain bowls. this enables application without grinding the tooth surface.

conclusion

A Veneer is a good alternative to a crown, which is gentle on the hard tooth substance. The prerequisite is that the tooth is only discolored, there is a slight or minor positional anomaly Tooth gap consists. A veneer only requires a very small loss of hard tooth substance, it is tissue-compatible and long-lasting. In most cases, the costs are not reimbursed by the health insurers. Since the focus is on aesthetics, the restoration with a veneer is not a cash benefit.