What Are the Pros and Cons of No-Prep Veneers?

Dentist Blog

If you're thinking about having veneers fitted to whiten your smile, hide discoloured teeth or fix teeth that are a bit wonky, you may be worried about what will happen to your natural teeth during the preparation process. Traditionally, your teeth require a lot of work before you can have regular veneers fitted; however, this process may not be so extreme if you choose to have no-prep veneers. What are the advantages and disadvantages of no-prep veneers over regular veneers?

The Advantages of No-Prep Veneers

When you have a regular veneer fitted, your dentist has to remove some of the surface enamel layers of the tooth to make space for the veneer shell to fit naturally. This is a permanent change to your tooth that you can't fix later. Once your enamel is gone, it's gone forever.

No-prep veneers are typically much thinner than regular veneers so they don't require enamel removal to fit comfortably on teeth. In some cases, you may be able to have a veneer fitted with no preparation work at all; in others, you may need just a little surface work that is less invasive.

This also speeds up the treatment process. For example, according to Dental Guide Australia, you may be able to have no-prep veneers fitted in a single session at your dentist's surgery while getting regular veneers fitted can take up to four appointments. Plus, if you change your mind about having veneers down the line, a no-prep option basically means that you can have your veneers removed and go back to the way things were before you had the veneers fitted.

The Disadvantages of No-Prep Veneers

While regular veneers can cover a multitude of dental problems, no-prep veneers aren't a suitable fix for every dental issue. Typically, these kinds of veneers work best on teeth that don't need much, if any, preparation before taking on a veneer. Your dentist may also advise against using no-prep veneers if you have the following issues:

• Deep staining on a tooth – the ultra-thin size of a no-prep veneer may not give you a thick enough barrier to hide the stain which may still show through the shell.
• Large or prominent teeth: – if you stick a no-prep veneer on a large tooth or one that sticks out slightly in your mouth, the veneer may make the tooth look bulkier.

It's also important to realise that removing no-prep veneers may be a bigger job than you realise and may result in some damage to your natural teeth. Although you may not need to have enamel removed to have these veneers fitted, the veneers will be strongly bonded to your teeth. According to Dental Economics, the effort needed to break this bond and remove a no-prep veneer may, in itself, end up removing some of your tooth's enamel.

Talk to your family dentist for more information about veneers. 

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14 April 2016