Frequently Asked Questions

Veneers consist of porcelain shells that provide a fresh facade for a tooth. They are thinly formed pieces of porcelain shaped like a tooth, which our cosmetic dentist affixes to the front of your teeth. Porcelain veneers are considered the foremost standard of care in cosmetic dentistry.

They are permanently attached to the front surface of a tooth in order to restore or improve color, form and location. Veneers can immediately provide an impressive, positive transformation of your smile and overall facial look. They are highly effective for fixing common problems.

Because veneers are custom made, no two sets will be the same. The highest-quality cosmetic dentistry is a combination of art as well as science that creates aesthetically pleasing results. Dr. Konig has extensive schooling in the art of smile design including training from the prestigious Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI). Smile design takes into consideration several features, which are specified when Dr. Konig works with his ceramist:

• Color
• Angle
• Line
• Shape
• Thickness
• Translucency
• Occlusion (bite)

Based on these provisions, our laboratory custom-creates the veneers to Dr. Konig’s design specifications. The veneers are made to fit your face, gender, personality and smile.

When they are properly prepared, porcelain veneers look and feel like your real teeth. You are welcome to be as much a part of the veneer selection process as you wish, but remember that the reason you select cosmetic dentist specialists is for their knowledge and artistry in creating a healthy, beautiful smile.

Computer imaging along with our Smile Gallery of other patients will help you decide on the color, shape and style that work best for you.

Veneers are permanently bonded to the teeth using a thin shell of porcelain. The ceramists in the laboratory create the veneers not only from impressions of your teeth, but also from color-mapping specifications. Every veneer is custom-designed to fit comfortably and naturally like a glove. Custom-designed porcelain veneers can make a remarkable improvement to your appearance and still look completely natural. They are bonded into place using a highly concentrated light, which cures the bonding material. The end result is precise veneer placement.

Veneers can be used to correct:

• Alignment
• Color
• Shape
• Size
• Chips
• Cracks
• Crookedness
• Fractures
• Malformation
• Stains

The shape of veneers combined with occlusal adjustments (adjustment to the bite) can have a profound result on the entire look and feel of your face, not just your smile. This can effectively give the appearance of a facelift or wrinkle treatment without having any plastic surgery. While generating your unique smile, Dr. Konig also takes into consideration how to attain such a complete new look. A number of our patients actually look 10 years younger after Dr. Konig creates their new smiles.

Composite bonding refers to a plastic tooth-colored resin material. Such bonding can usually be finished in one visit and is often used to repair a smaller chip in a tooth or to make visual enhancements to several teeth. Bonding doesn’t usually require anesthesia or much tooth reduction.

Porcelain veneers, however, are created from porcelain in a lab, so they offer a larger capability for:

• Range of colors
• Realism
• Translucency

Veneers more closely resemble the look and feel of your natural teeth than their plastic counterparts. They also offer a more enduring solution than bonding, because veneers don’t discolor or stain and are more durable.

Veneers typically only require two office visit: the initial visit to get the teeth ready, and the follow-up visit to place the veneers.

During the first visit, three things will happen:

1. Your teeth will be prepared for veneers.
2. You will have impressions taken of your teeth.
3. You will be fitted with temporary custom veneers.

During the second visit, your veneers will be permanently bonded to your teeth. Imagine getting your beautiful new smile in only a month—a custom-made smile that not only fits your face and personality, but also provides you with the self-assurance to express who you really are!

Porcelain veneers and dental crowns are an ideal substitute to braces in many cases. In fact, they are often referred to as instant orthodontics. Adult patients who have always wished for straighter teeth, but had no inclination to endure years of treatment with braces, typically love this alternative treatment. Instead of years in braces, crooked teeth can be fixed in a few visits using veneers. Even if you have had braces in the past, porcelain veneers may be the perfect solution if you aren’t completely satisfied with your orthodontic results.

Veneers are a conservative treatment. A thin layer of enamel is removed from your teeth, creating room to bond the veneers without them seeming unnaturally thick. Typically around .3 to .5 millimeters of enamel is removed from the surface of your teeth, in contrast to crown treatment, in which much more tooth surface is removed. The amount of enamel removed depends on each person and even each individual tooth.

Advances in technology have made bonding agents used to attach veneers to teeth stronger than ever. The process involves two steps:

1. After your teeth have been readied by reducing the amount of enamel on them, they are then prepared with a bonding agent, which sticks to your teeth using special resin cement as an adhesive. This resin cement comes in many different colors to match your tooth color as closely as possible.
2. The resin cement is cured using a special dental curing light, which permanently bonds the veneers to your teeth, creating a long-lasting, sturdy bond between your teeth and the veneers.

After you have your veneers, you will come into our office for a follow-up visit to ensure they are seated properly and to allow Dr. Konig to fine tune or re-contour your veneers for your individual look and smile. If you have a tendency to clench or grind your teeth, especially at night, we can create a custom-made soft night guard to minimize the pressure put on your teeth and veneers.

If you only want to fix a single discolored or malformed tooth, then one veneer may achieve your desired results. However, to achieve balanced, symmetrical results, Dr. Konig may recommend several veneers (anywhere from 4 to 8 or even more). If you have large gaps which need closing, 6 to 10 veneers may be necessary. He treats each case individually based on the needs and desires of the patient. Dr. Konig will evaluate your teeth and help determine whether you’re a candidate for porcelain veneers.

There are no firm rules of thumb about how long veneers typically last. You can certainly expect your veneers to last many years, especially because they are made of stronger material (porcelain instead of plastic) and use more advanced bonding agents than in the past. Although it is idealistic to think they will last forever, you can extend their life by treating them with excellent care and taking care of your oral health. If you take these precautions, your veneers will likely last over 10 to 15 years. Some people with veneers have had them for 20 years or longer!

Some people do have tooth sensitivity to pressure or cold or hot temperatures in food. This is perfectly normal and tends to disperse after a few days or, at most, a few weeks. This happens because of the amount of enamel remaining on the tooth, the closeness of the nerve or many other reasons. If you continue to experience sensitivity problems, contact us and we will work with you to resolve the issue.

You should be able to eat a normal diet after getting your veneers. The porcelain and bonding agent are both extremely strong, especially for biting straight down. If you are eating anything that might bend or twist the veneers, you should exercise some caution. Just like with natural teeth, you should avoid doing things like chewing ice or using your teeth as a tool. In general, they are maintenance free.

Veneers require the same basic care as natural teeth. You should brush twice daily with a nonabrasive toothpaste, as well as floss before bedtime. You should also continue to visit our dentist regularly. With proper home care, your veneers should provide you with a beautiful smile for years to come.