When getting porcelain veneers, are teeth filed down to pegs?

Hello there,Based on your question, it's unclear whether you're getting veneers or crowns.  They both require prep work.  The amount of prep work directly depends upon the severity of your cosmetic issues before the crowns or veneers prepped.  From the sound of things, you may have been prepped for crowns, but to get the best answer, I would encourage you to contact the dentist that did them.  Good luck and I hope this helps. Follow me if you have more questions.Sarah Thompson, DMDReal Self 100

Hi, filing teeth down to pegs is a myth. In most cases, you would have a preop wax up model to show you how teeth are nearly going to look like after finish and so also to suggest how much prep is needed on each tooth. If rest all teeth are in line, one or two teeth quite far off may need more prep than others. Also the temporary veneers are placed to give you an idea of shape, size and colour of final veneers but most times they are all joined together and so feel like a fixed bridge. I hope that clears your confusion.

Porcelain veneers are one of the most conservative restorations in dentistry.  You just roughen up the front surface of the tooth, and if done correctly, this shouldn't be more than 0.5mm.  There are cases that a tooth may need more of a prep depending on positioning of the tooth, or if the tooth is fractured, but in general 0.5mm is enough for a porcelain veneer.  If your dentist is not skilled, he/she may remove more tooth structure than needed, which is why you need to do your research prior to choosing a practitioner.

How much filing or preparation depends on a variety of different factors.  Tooth color, shape, bite, etc.  Average reduction is around .5-1mm which is much less than for a crown which is 1.5-2mm.  There is certainly a difference but the temporaries are usually together for strength.  Good luck

The preperation for porcelain veneers depends on many factors.  The positioning of the teeth and how much correction is needed.  If the existing teeth had any old restorations in them.  Without photos or radiographs of preprepped teeth it is hard to say how much preperation was needed.With that said, straight forward porcelain veneers are usually require 0.75-1 mm of reduction from the front ofthe tooth and 1.5mm from the incisal edge of the tooth.Splinting the temporaries is customary and will hold them on better for you.  At this point I would wait for the next appointment and see the end result.  A good laboratory will make the teeth look great.

For the most part, porcelain laminate veneers remain among the most conservative tooth preparations, requiring the least amount of tooth reduction (filing) as opposed to crowns, inlays and onlays. Here are some guidelines to the amount of tooth reduction that can be expected:There is generally an average of .5 mm of tooth filing, a small amount to literally put a new "skin" on your teeth without the teeth appearing overcontoured. In some cases, there can be no preparation or tooth reduction at all for "prep less" veneers to restore front teeth that may have a misshapened anatomy, for example. However, in some cases more tooth reduction is required such as in severe discoloration from tetracycline stains and/or anterior (front) incisors that may have many previous restorations (fillings) previously. The reduction may include 4 of the 5 surfaces of a tooth, with the inter-proximal (in between teeth) surfaces included, making your teeth appear like "peg-shaped."For the most part, your dentist should explain the process including the amount of tooth reduction and need for temporization prior to the start of treatment to better manage patient expectations.