How an Experienced Dentist Makes a Difference with Porcelain Veneers

If you are considering porcelain veneers, you may be wondering how to select a dentist to design and fit your veneers. There are many choices, from your local everyday dentist to high-profile dentists in far-off cities who claim to offer significant benefits if you choose them for your procedure.

There are many important things to consider in choosing your dentist, including education, technology, and testimonials, but one you should not forget in considering different candidates is experience. Experience can make a difference in every phase of placing your porcelain veneers.

Experience Makes a Difference in Recommendations

Experience is a rich resource when considering recommendations for your porcelain veneers. In considering between regular porcelain veneers and the no-prep veneers known as Lumineers, a dentist with experience likely has his own case history and is more likely to be able to make informed recommendations that fit your case. In addition, an experience dentist might have more insight into whether it will be better for your veneers to be only on the front of the tooth or to go over the incisal edge (top).

Experience Makes a Difference in Preparation

There are several different methods that dentists use to prepare teeth for porcelain veneers. A dentist with experience has placed enough veneers to not only know which method works best for him, but is likely to have developed his technique to make uniform preparation for porcelain veneers, which can increase the life of your veneers.

In designing your restorations, an experienced dentist is likely to have a better sense of whole-mouth aesthetics. An experienced dentist knows better how to use veneers to improve not only the color, but the shape of your smile in a way that enhances your smile's appearance to the maximum extent possible.

An experienced dentist also probably has more experience working with temporary veneers and can fashion, place, and even reshape these temporaries so that you will feel comfortable with your smile until your permanent veneers arrive.

Experience Makes a Difference in Placement

The final step in the porcelain veneer process is the placement of your veneers. This step is important because it also serves as the quality control step. It is the last chance you get to evaluate your veneers before they are essentially permanently bonded to your teeth.

An experienced dentist has had time to develop a highly critical eye that might spot veneers that do not match the others. Experience also teaches a dentist the best techniques for placing veneers with maximum accuracy to help ensure the best possible results. Finally, experienced dentists have often learned many subtle tricks about placing veneers, such as adjusting the color of veneers using slightly different colors of cement.