Porcelain Veneers. What are they, exactly? We are all familiar with porcelain. If we look around our homes, we can probably find a ceramic figurine or some other piece of art that has been crafted from porcelain. Compared to other porcelains, the dental porcelain used in Porcelain Veneers, Porcelain Crowns, Porcelain Inlays, and Porcelain Onlays is of a different chemical composition.

The basic ingredient in all types of porcelain – from the types used in arts and crafts, to the types used by Cosmetic Dentists like Dr. Jacques, in making Porcelain Restorations – is glass. Then, different additives and fillers are added to give it strength and color. One technique is Feldpathic Porcelain, where the technician literally puts a small layer of liquid and powder on a model, and creates that shell of porcelain. The advantage of this technique is that it has a lifelike translucency to it, and the technician can essentially bake in whatever color the patient wants in the process.

Empress Porcelain has a pressed core. A machine mills the core, and a technician puts a layer of porcelain over it. It is highly esthetic and four times stronger than molding the porcelain on a model. Empress Porcelain is crystalline and has few defects. Other labs have their own trade names for Porcelain Veneers as well, such as DiVinci Lab, and Lumineers.

Porcelain Veneers have been around for at least twenty years. A conservative approach to restoring chipped, discolored, crowded, and gapped teeth, Porcelain Veneers restore appropriate dimension, proportion, and beauty to a smile.

Their advantage is twofold. First, the thickness of Porcelain Veneers can be as little as 0.3 millimeters, as opposed to 2 millimeters for a conventional crown. Because the Porcelain Veneers or Crowns can be so thin, there is no need to grind down the tooth, or remove a lot of tooth structure to make room for a conventional crown. The second advantage is that Porcelain Veneers bond directly to the tooth. The alternative method requires the fusing of porcelain to metal so that together the combined strength of the two materials can withstand vertical and lateral forces the jaw must withstand during chewing.

“Once bonded, Porcelain becomes incredibly strong,” notes Dr. Jacques, “and literally becomes one with the tooth structure. It restores the original strength of the tooth, matching, if not surpassing, the strength of a conventional crown.” Since more tooth structure remains underneath the Porcelain Crowns and Veneers, the strength of the tooth, and the strength of the Porcelain Veneers and Porcelain Crowns reinforce each other. If there is hardly any tooth structure, it is not as strong.

“Just like implants, restorations, and natural teeth,” explains Dr. Jacques, “Porcelain Veneers and Crowns must withstand great lateral force.” Dentists like Dr. Jacques, properly trained in occlusion and bite management, help keep the lateral forces under control.

There are different brands of Porcelain Veneers and Porcelain Crowns. Certain companies, like Empress, make their own brand of Porcelain Veneers and Porcelain Crowns. They have a high esthetic quality and are also very strong.

At Dr. Jacques's Cosmetic Dental Office, we understand that Porcelain Veneers and Crowns are an elective procedure, and we make sure the patient is as happy as they can be with their smile before we finalize the process.

Dr. Jacques explains, “Porcelain allows us to create consistency in giving the patient what they want in terms of color, esthetics, and shape. That is one advantage of the Porcelain Veneers and Porcelain Crowns process – porcelain has a lifelike translucency to it, so you can bake in the precise coloration you want in the process. It's perfect for Smile Rejuvenation and Color Enhancement.”

Porcelain Veneers and Porcelain Crowns can be prepared to meet both the cosmetic and functional needs of a patient, so they allow Dr. Jacques's patients to be very involved in creating their ideal smile. Porcelain Veneers bond directly to the surface of the tooth, which means that if a patient needs or wants to change the shape, color, or spacing on just one portion of the tooth, they can. This opens up a world of possibilities. As Dr. Jacques points out, “Porcelain Crowns and Veneers are a wonderful, functional, conservative alternative to traditional metal crowns. They are the ideal marriage of function and form.”

A conventional crown requires six times greater tooth reduction before the placing of a crown. Because the thickness of Porcelain Veneers can be as little as 0.3 millimeters, and because Porcelain Veneers do bond directly to the surface of the tooth, we don't need to remove a lot of tooth structure. In the alternative technique, porcelain is fused to metal because the combined strength of the two materials is greater than the strength of either porcelain or metal on their own. To ensure that the tooth has the maximum strength, the porcelain is baked on top of the metal. Patients accustomed to the traditional method sometimes complain of darkening at the gum line or a lack of luster of the crowns, due to use of the metal, which does not reflect light.

“Now,” notes Dr. Jacques, “our Cosmetic Dentistry patients concerned with esthetic issues that challenge dentists using the alternative technique of porcelain fused to metal, can be involved every step of the way in the creating of their new smile with Porcelain Veneers. We invite them to be very interactive in the entire process. From the very beginning of the process, when we make the temporaries, the patient is involved in the discussion. The temporaries are made based upon the dimensions the patients wants,” notes Dr. Jacques. “Then we take the photos, and communicate to the lab exactly what the patient has requested.”