While getting dental veneers can certainly be a fantastic way to disguise unsightly teeth, there are certain times that are less-than-ideal for having them applied. Basically, you don’t want to get dental veneers if you’re going to sabotage their usefulness almost immediately following their application.
People get dental veneers for two basic reasons: color and shape. Maybe your teeth are naturally a few shades shy of white,
and resist even professional whitening procedures. Or perhaps your teeth lack the luster or uniform shape you wish they displayed. Less-than-ideal tooth shapes can also be caused by accidents leading to unsightly chipping or cracking. Those are all certainly good reasons to consider dental veneers. However, there are a few circumstances that should make you think twice about getting such cosmetic dentistry done, at least for now.
1. If you are planning to undergo orthodontic procedures that will affect the same tooth surfaces, you may want to wait.
This is particularly an issue for you to consider if you’re planning to have veneers placed on your front teeth (the most common location of such cosmetic dentistry), and you’ll have braces covering those surfaces. There are two basic issues that come up with this combination of dental aesthetics. First, the brackets will cover the veneers, anyway, making them basically pointless during the time period in which you have to wear the braces. Second, the removal of the brackets may incidentally include damaging or removing the veneers, as well. Simply waiting until your orthodontist is finished putting metal on the surfaces your want resurfaced will make more sense in the end.
2. If you are considering a new career or hobby such in fields such as hockey, boxing, or dog tug competitions, maybe you should reconsider.
One reason for getting veneers is misshapen, cracked or chipped teeth. Sometimes, such calamities can be caused be nature or freak accidents, but other times, they’re somewhat expected due to activities that naturally cause trauma to the oral cavity. So if your chipped teeth have resulted from hockey pucks frequenting your mouth as often as your feet enter your skates, you might want to wait on dental veneers until you’re ready to retire your hockey stick for good. Other orally traumatic hobbies include boxing (especially kick boxing—ouch!), and using your mouth to play tug-of-war with your pit bull. If the latter is an issue for you, you may also want to find a dentist whose office is next door to a psychologist, as well.
3. If you are insistent about drinking dark liquids that cause staining, you should probably delay the procedure until you're ready.
Staining of natural tooth enamel can be caused by many liquids, including medicines, coffee, tea, and juices. If such nectars have caused discoloration to your teeth, they will take less time to cause damage to dental veneers, because the artificial enamel is less resistant to such wear than natural enamel is. So unless you’ve already gone through a 12-step process for caffeine addiction, you may want to consider waiting until you really area ready to kick the habit. Otherwise, like an uncommitted addict re-entering rehab for the third time in 3 years, you may find yourself needing new veneers next year.
If those three issues don't exist, spending the money to make your smile shine may well be worth the cost of having dental veneers applied.
