"Your teeth, our passion, creating the perfect smile"
Porcelain veneers, also known as ceramic veneers, are ultrathin layers of ceramic which go onto the front surfaces of your teeth to permanently perfect the size, shape and colour of your teeth. These are designed and handcrafted by a skilled ceramist in a dental laboratory. They are then very carefully bonded to the front surfaces of your teeth by your dentist. Having light-reflecting properties like natural teeth and the ability to be made thin and translucent to mimic the characteristics of tooth enamel, porcelain veneers create a very natural appearance.
Porcelain veneers are generally used when we are trying to achieve a significant improvement to a person’s smile, rather than making small tweaks. Patients are often worried about the underlying tooth being drilled for porcelain veneers, but by meticulous planning and an eye for extreme detail it is possible to avoid heavy preparations of the underlying teeth. Here, at Didcot Dental Studio, all our cosmetic dentists are highly trained in providing this treatment modality in a safe, non-invasive way.
Didcot Dental Studio is renowned for its expertise in all manners of smile makeovers, ranging from the placement of a single porcelain veneer to the fabrication of a full arch of veneers for more complex cases. Maintaining long-term dental health is just as important to us as giving you the smile of your dreams, which is why we always go for the least invasive option.
Veneers provide a simple, risk-free option for enhancing the appearance of your smile by perfecting the shape and colour of your teeth. To ensure that the new teeth are all the same colour and shape, porcelain veneers are typically done on 4-10 teeth for the most ideal result.
To make a significant improvement in your smile to look and feel better.
If you have worn away your teeth over the years, porcelain veneers can be used to reinforce and restore the shape and symmetry of the teeth. This will stop the teeth from wearing down any further and give you beautiful looking teeth again.
If teeth have severe defects and have experienced trauma over the years, then teeth whitening, and composite veneers may not work. In these scenarios, porcelain veneers work best to replace what has been lost.
If you want to avoid orthodontic treatment but have minor crowding, porcelain veneers can help.
When a person’s smile makeover treatment is complete, we often see a huge increase in their self-confidence. Even though the smile looks great, what's more important is how much better the person feels after the transformation.
Complimentary Cosmetic Consultation: The first stage in your treatment journey at Didcot Dental studio is to have a comprehensive consultation. Here, we will intently listen to the concerns you have about your smile, understand your long-term goals and answer any questions you have about veneers. We will also examine your teeth and gums to check there are no outstanding dental health issues to resolve before we start your smile makeover journey
Once we have discussed the full process with you, given you all your options and answered all your questions, we will provide you with a treatment plan. This plan will have transparent pricing and a full breakdown of what will happen during your smile transformation with us.
Work up and planning of your Smile Makeover: Whilst your cosmetic dentist uses cutting-edge digital and dental technology to plan your smile-design, we will make sure your oral health is secure by doing things like making sure you've seen the hygienist and stabilising any urgent dental work you may need. During this phase, we will also whiten your teeth, so they look their best when we start working on them.
To make sure your teeth are in the best possible position before your porcelain veneers are placed, we may even recommend a short course of orthodontics (like Invisalign). This will all be discussed with you in detail to ensure you get the best long term result.
The ‘Trial Smile’ stage: We will be using digital technology and handmade wax-up designs to show you our shared vision of your new smile. This will allow us to work together to provide you with a bespoke natural smile which is designed to fit with your features, your personality and your face.
Before we go ahead and perform any treatment on you, we will perform a ‘Trial Smile’. This is where we will place the Smile design inside your mouth using a reversible material and this will allow you to visualise the stimulated end result. Here, we will be able to assess the cosmetics of your new smile before any dental preparation is done to your teeth.
We can then adjust and tweak the ‘Trail Smile’ according to your preferences before we begin treatment. This allows you to be in full control of your treatment and the process.
Preperation of teeth and placement of handmade temporary veneers: At this appointment we will carry out very controlled and precise preparations of your teeth to construct the ultrathin porcelain veneers. This appointment is usually performed under a local anaesthetic so no discomfort is ever felt by the patient. We will then take highly accurate digital scans of your teeth and send these to our master ceramist who will begin the process of handcrafting the porcelain veneers.
At the end of the appointment, we will place a temporary version of your new smile onto your teeth. You’ll be able to trial your new smile at home for a couple of weeks, and we still have the option to make further tweaks in case we need to. During this phase you will have to maintain a careful and soft diet, with excellent oral hygiene.
Smile Makeover Reveal: At the next appointment, your porcelain veneers will be ready to try in and fit. After we take off the temporary veneers and clean your teeth, we can try in your new porcelain veneers. We will then take high quality digital photos of the veneers inside your mouth to make sure we are completely happy with the fit and aesthetic of the veneers.
Once we are happy that everything is looking perfect, we will proceed to bonding each individual veneer to the tooth. This is a very careful and precise process which requires a lot of experience and skill and can take up to 1-2 hours depending on how many teeth there are being treated.
Once this appointment is finished, you’ll be given personalised aftercare instructions and will go home with your new porcelain veneers.
This will be dependent on the findings at your comprehensive examination and what you determine your long term goals to be. Most people are suitable for porcelain veneers at our clinic, as we have perfected the art of this treatment being performed in a an extremely non-invasive manner. We can construct ultra-thin porcelain veneers that can mimic natural teeth and give you a highly aesthetic result without compromising the long term health of your teeth.
No! This is a common misunderstanding about porcelain veneers, which is mostly caused by the media's coverage of celebrities like Katie Price who have gone abroad for dental care. Since porcelain veneers are very thin, we sometimes don't have to even touch the underlying tooth structure. On occasions, if we have to reshape the tooth to create some space, it is kept to the absolute bare minimum, because maintaining the health of your teeth is always our top priority.
The fees for your porcelain veneer treatment really depend on the complexity of your case and the results we are trying to achieve. We have outlined some guide fees for porcelain veneers (per tooth) in our online fee guide, however, for a more bespoke and accurate quotation please contact our team and book in for your smile consultation.
We have perfected the way we do porcelain veneers and smile makeovers, and we do things in a very organised and logical way. If you have finished any orthodontic work that was needed and your plan is set, the whole process will usually be done in about a month. But every case is different, and at your consultation, we'll talk about a time frame that works for you.
When you are looking for an improvement to your smile, porcelain veneers can provide a fantastic solution. Sometimes, there are alternative treatment options, such as using a short course of orthodontics for alignment, whitening and composite bonding to improve the colour, shape and size. All suitable options will be discussed in detail at your consultation
You look after them just as you would your natural teeth. You will need to brush and floss them regularly, twice a day, and see your dentist and hygienist twice a year for reviews and cleanings.
