Dental veneers can completely transform your smile. They’re often the go-to solution for cosmetic concerns, but what are dental veneers? Porcelain dental veneers leave your smile looking whiter, straighter, and perfectly shaped. But if you have missing teeth, there won’t be any to support your dental veneers. In that case, you may want to replace missing teeth with durable and equally attractive dental implants.
Dental Veneers vs. Dental Implants
Porcelain veneers are a type of cosmetic dental restoration that is bonded over the front of healthy teeth. They change what you see from the outside whenever you smile. You can think of them as thin shells of porcelain specifically crafted to look like attractive teeth while masking the natural teeth behind them.
On the other hand, you can replace missing teeth while also enhancing aesthetics if you’re using dental implants. A dental implant will look and feel like a natural replacement tooth, blending in with the teeth surrounding it. But implants are just the “root” portion of your new teeth. If you have multiple missing teeth, the crowns or bridges on top of your dental implants can be crafted to your aesthetic preferences. The shape of veneers covers the front surfaces of teeth. Whereas a dental crown (what you place on top of a dental implant) covers the entire surface that’s visible above the gumline.
Both crowns and dental veneers are made out of porcelain, making them attractive for a beautiful smile. But only crowns can attach to dental implants, and veneers only work with healthy teeth.
Do I Qualify for Dental Veneers?
Candidates for dental veneers have healthy teeth that are free of any active tooth decay or gum disease. If there are minor chips in your enamel or slight surface irregularities, that’s completely fine. The key is that the tooth they’re attached to is completely healthy.
You might want to consider porcelain veneers if your natural teeth are:
- Crooked, gapped, or crowded
- Misshaped
- Stained
- Uneven
- Slightly chipped
Do you tend to hide your teeth during conversations with other people or avoid having your picture taken? Then you may want to get dental veneers.
Additionally, dental veneers are placed across several front teeth at a time. For a Hollywood smile, you would probably need between 6-10 dental veneers, depending on how many of your front teeth are visible when you’re smiling.
Should I Get a Dental Implant Instead of Veneers?
Since you can’t use veneers to replace missing teeth, the next best option is a dental implant. An implant will sit alongside your existing teeth, with the implant acting as a tooth root. Our Chattanooga dentist will affix a porcelain crown instead of a veneer on top of the dental implants. From the outside looking in, the implant crown or a veneer will look exactly the same. The only difference is how much tooth or implant is covered.
Dental implants improve your overall oral health as they function like other teeth. But they’re an important part of smile makeovers because we can adjust how they look while also improving oral function.
Do Dental Implant Crowns and Veneers Look the Same?
Yes. Except veneers cover part of a tooth while crowns cover the entire implant abutment or tooth. It comes down to overall coverage.
When designing a dream smile, our Chattanooga dentist will sometimes pair dental implants with a dental veneer, depending on which teeth are involved or if some are missing. Both provide you with a straighter, brighter smile.
If you have bite problems or neighboring teeth with wear or decay, a traditional dental crown on a natural tooth can also help correct cosmetic issues.
All implant crowns and veneers are crafted from porcelain materials by the same ceramists or lab technicians. Their shape and size are adjusted to your preferences, or if there are adjacent teeth, they need to match. But from the outside, whenever you’re smiling, the teeth with veneers or dental implants look practically identical.
Having Treatment Options Matters
Everyone deserves to have beautiful teeth. But not all types of dental care work for everyone. Our Chattanooga dental office tries to provide a variety of treatment options so that you can select the best treatment for your specific situation. The perfect smile for one person will have different needs than someone else. Especially with missing teeth.
Perhaps you have a tooth with stains that would respond well to a teeth whitening treatment rather than a more dramatic procedure like veneers. Or maybe the teeth throughout your mouth have gaps or minor crowding, making brushing and flossing difficult. We can determine if a removable aligner treatment will fix those issues for you, giving you the functional benefits of a better-aligned bite. If the tooth is misshaped, a crown or veneer may be the best treatment.
Someone who has a missing tooth can ultimately choose between a bridge, implant, or even a partial denture. The tooth on either side of your missing teeth will impact how our dentist will replace missing teeth, but you still deserve to know which options you have to choose from.
The great thing about care plans with our Chattanooga dentist is that each of our patients can pick and choose the most appropriate tooth treatment options to fit their budget, timeframe, and lifestyle.
Balancing Oral Health and Cosmetics
Our Chattanooga dentist has seen firsthand how patients’ lives are transformed when they feel great about how their teeth look. Not only can we replace missing teeth, but we can also help restore your confidence. When you feel excited about the way your smile looks, you’ll want to laugh and smile more often around other people. In turn, healthier and more attractive teeth can help you make a great first impression and seem like a friendlier person overall. Even though you can’t use veneers with missing teeth, there are still various procedures that provide similar results.
Whether you have gaps to close up, dentures you want to be replaced, or a missing tooth causing major cosmetic challenges, our Chattanooga dentist can help.
Even though it can be challenging to invest in your broken or missing tooth for functional purposes, the transformation in your quality of life is priceless.
Request an Appointment Today
Contact McOmie Family Dentistry in Chattanooga today to reserve a no-obligation smile assessment. We’ll be happy to discuss the pros and cons of each option to help you find the solution that’s right for you!
