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Is It Necessary to Level out Chipped Teeth Before a Veneer Can Be Placed? (photo)

asked 6 months ago by Random9293 in Somewhere
Latest answer by Elizabeth Jahanian, DDS
Question viewed 439 times
Tags: chipped tooth, expectation, flatten

My front two teeth chipped when I fell down the stairs. My dentist has given me a choice of getting either veneers or crowns. But he is edging towards Zirconium crowns over Empress Veneers. I wanted to go for Veneers due to minimal tooth reduction but he says that quite some tooth will be lost anyway for veneers since he'll be leveling it. Will leveling really be necessary for veneers apart from the obvious front shaving

12 answers to Is It Necessary to Level out Chipped Teeth Before a Veneer Can Be Placed? (photo)

Chipped Front Teeth Can Be Fixed in Many Ways

You need to get more than one consultation to decide what treatment is right for you. Depending on your age and your needs, you can bond plastic onto your broken teeth and get a fantastic result. Veneers are the next choice-while you will have some modification of your teeth(flattened and shaped) less tooth structure is removed than when you do a crown. Make sure you are clear about the expectations for length of service and what you can expect for care and reasonable... more

Wendy S. Spektor, DDS
Bellevue Cosmetic Dentist

Preparation of teeth for veneers

To help prevent the veneer from fracturing under biting and chewing forces, the preped tooth must have smooth, rounded edges. Therefore, some leveling of the chipped edges is necessary so they are not sharp. This concept is true whether placing a veneer or a crown. The difference between a veneer and a crown is that a crown has full-coverage of the tooth, while the veneer will cover only the front surface and the edge of the tooth. Best,... more

Elizabeth Jahanian, DDS
Corona Cosmetic Dentist

Is there any prior preparation to a veneer?

I do not believe that there is any necessity to even out your teeth prior to veneering it. It seems that veneers will be a good option for you . I still believe that empress is the most beautiful, but the strength and workability of Emax out weighs empress. Emax is very close to empress as far as aesthetics, only a trained eye can tell the difference. Good luck.

Soheyla Marzvaan, DDS
Orange County Cosmetic Dentist

Leveling is not necessary

I agree, Empress would be best, and no levelling is needed (some minor SMOOTHING, sure, but NOT significant leveling). In fact, I would AVOID a zirconia material for esthetic reasons. It would seem your dentist is not aware of current materials, properties or techniques. If zirconia is used, it MUST be a crown, as zirconia cannot be bonded. If this were MY mouth, I would not want crowns. While a plastic material CAN be placed, due to the location of the chips, the longevity would be in... more

Lance Timmerman, DMD
Seattle Cosmetic Dentist

Stay away from crowns as long as you can

Assuming that the only damage to the teeth is what can be seen from the grainy picture I would not recommend Crowns for your chipped teeth. I would even consider composite restorations as a place to start restoring your teeth. Modern composites in the right hands and with proper layering techniques, can deliver excellent cosmetic results that last a good while, with minimal or no tooth reduction. Minimally prepared veneers would also have to be... more

Lorenzo Minniti, DDS
Alpharetta Cosmetic Dentist

I would go for veneers

I had similar fractures to my own front teeth and years ago had empress crowns made to correct the problem. Today knowing what we know in regards to bonding and materials I would have gone for a more conservative approach, namely the veneers. And, I agree with Dr. Wilcox, that emax would be a great choice for the material. About 4 times stronger than empress and very very close in esthetic characteristics. In terms of leveling, some reshaping might be necessary to get... more

Christian Yaste, DDS
Charlotte Cosmetic Dentist

Tooth preparation for veneer

Veneers are cosmetic restorations that are bonded to the tooth structure, so removal of the tooth structure ( or leveling) should be very minimal. From your picture I see that mesial corners of the central teeth are missing and otherwise teeth are OK. My suggestion would be restore it with more concervative restorations - veneers and not with full coverage crowns. I would highly reccomend to obtain consultation with restorative specialist - prosthodontist a and then... more

Zina Kaleinikova, DDS, MS
Cleveland Cosmetic Dentist

Veneers are generally better than crowns for chipped teeth.

I disagree, there is considerable more tooth shaving for a crown than a veneer. Do not do a crown. Yes, the edge of the teeth should be more level to obtain a good result with veneers, so the edge and the front will be shaved, but a crown shaves even more of the front and all of the back and in between. I have to say, it is not a great picture to make treatment recommendations, however based on what I see and in general, veneers are a much better option for fractured anterior... more

Mauricio C. Tijerino, DMD
Miami Beach Cosmetic Dentist

Veneers vs. Crowns

I think your assessment of wanting veneers due to less tooth reduction is absolutely correct. I see no reason to prep the teeth for crowns based upon the photo you submitted. Consider emax for the veneers and I think you can have a conservative, aesthetic and strong result.

Donald L. Wilcox, DDS
Phoenix Cosmetic Dentist

www.desertsmiles.com

It looks like veneers would be Great

Current thinking in medicine and dentistry is to preserve body tissues as much as possible. In general we are all living longer than in years past and we want to bank tooth structure for the future. Whenever possible, I say try to save as much healthy tooth structure as possible. Therefore I would want to restore these teeth with veneers. If you have a great lab to work with, they should be able to create beautiful veneers without levelling the edges completely... more

Martin Frankel, DDS
Toronto Cosmetic Dentist

Fix chipped teeth with veneer or crown

From your photo, it is difficult to see the entire condition of the chipped teeth. Generally speaking, for veneers to look their best, the teeth they are bonded to should be roughly the same size, color, and shape underneath. This is because the porcelain veneer is usually quite translucent, so whatever is underneath does show through somewhat. Also, the two front teeth, from your photo, look like they are further forward than the two side teeth (lateral incisors). If... more

Andrea Stevens, DMD
Ottawa Cosmetic Dentist

Level out Chipped Teeth Before a Veneer

In general, I do not believe that chipped teeth need to be leveled prior to veneer placement. Sometimes the biting edge of the tooth may be reduced in order to have the veneer wrap over and replace the incisal edge. Minimal surface reduction needs to be balanced with veneer thickness so that enough surface area is preserved to maximize bonding and material strength.

Marc Zive, DMD
Springfield Cosmetic Dentist

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