Dental Veneers Vs Crowns- Which Option Is Best For You?
Over time, our smiles change along with the shape and size of our teeth. Tooth decay, cracked fillings, teeth grinding, missing teeth, root canals and something as simple as age can do much damage to our smiles. If you want to enhance your smile and restore broken or discolored teeth, there are two excellent options for you – dental crowns or veneers. However, it’s best you understand what exactly dental veneers and crowns are, and also learn their differences and their pros and cons before making your choice.
Dental Veneers
- What Is A Dental Veneer?
A dental veneer can be defined as a thin layer of tooth-coloured filling material (mostly composite resin) or ceramic that’s applied over an existing tooth to improve its shape, colour and overall look. Before applying the veneer, your dentist will remove a small amount of the tooth’s enamel; this is done to enhance the bond between the veneer and the tooth. Veneers are permanent once bonded and work perfectly well with your oral hygiene needs, apart from giving you a brilliant, even smile.
- Why You Should Opt For Dental Veneers?
Opt for dental veneers if you have relatively good teeth, but perhaps a bit discoloured, wrongly positioned or spaced, with a mottled look or with obvious stains or cracks in the enamel. The structure and stability of the teeth should be relatively fine.
- What Kinds Of Dental Veneers Are Available?
- Direct Dental Veneer: A direct veneer is created out of composite liquid-like resin that is applied directly to your teeth. Applying a direct veneer to your teeth can be intensive and laborious and often brings about less predictable results than indirect veneers.
- Indirect Dental Veneer: Indirect veneers are not applied directly in the form of a liquid resin. These are veneers that are prepared in a laboratory as per specific measurements taken of your teeth. They are fabricated out of porcelain or resin, and can be applied to the teeth easily. Porcelain can hide stains better than the almost translucent resin veneers but both options provide predictably strong and long-lasting results within a couple of visits to your dentist’s office.
Dental Crowns
- What are Dental Crowns?
A dental crown is a pre-prepared covering that is designed to hide damaged, chipped and unsightly teeth. They are usually made of porcelain that is designed to be the same colour and shape as your existing tooth. Once the procedure is complete, you’re left with perfectly shaped teeth and the crowns are totally invisible, which lets others believe that they’re seeing your natural teeth. If your regular filling is cracked, a dental crown can repair the damage and you’re your tooth a natural look.
- Why You Should Opt For A Dental Crown?
Crowns are a good option if you have stained enamel cracks, dental caries, misaligned and mal-proportioned teeth and significant damage to the tooth on the whole.
- What kinds of dental crowns are available?
Various types of dental crowns are available in the market, as follows:
- Porcelain: Porcelain crowns are used to cover front teeth, to mimic the appearance of the natural front teeth.
- Gold: People can opt for gold crowns in places that are not seen by the public, such as the back teeth. Gold crowns are especially strong and durable.
- Porcelain-Metal Fusion: A fusion of porcelain with silver or gold or titanium can be used anywhere in the mouth. The look is of porcelain even though metals will be fused to give the crowns more strength and durability.
Dental Veneers Vs Dental Crowns
The following points illustrate the differences between dental crowns and veneers and point out which option is better suited to individual cases:
- Coverage: While a veneer just covers the front side of the tooth, a dental crown encases the entire tooth.
- Thickness and Durability: Crowns are much thicker than veneers and are at times made of metal and porcelain fusion to make them stronger and more durable. This is because placing a dental crown requires a good amount of trimming of the natural tooth underneath it, which reduces the natural tooth’s size and shape. When the new crown is cemented, it becomes the new surface of the tooth, which is why it needs to be extremely durable. In certain cases, 63% to 76% of the tooth’s natural crown is trimmed away to make way for the porcelain crown. When it comes to veneers, the minimum trimming is 3% and up to 30% if the tooth is extensively damaged. Crowns require 2 to 4 times as much tooth trimming as veneers do.
Conclusion
If you’re still unsure about whether to opt for dental crowns or veneers, get an appointment with your dentist. While either treatment can create the same end result, cosmetically speaking, the two products and the types of restorations are different.
Still confused about which dental option is best for you ? Visit our Dental Care Office in Livonia or Call us at (734) 522-5520 to schedule your free initial consultation.
