No Prep Veneers
Happy, healthy smiles are our focus.
- Do you want a Porcelain Veneer Smile Makeover, but you’re worried about getting your teeth shaved down?
- Have you seen scary photos of what some teeth look like when they get porcelain veneers?
- Did you know that it is often possible to get Veneers and not shave your teeth at all?
Well it is now, with no prep veneers
Throughout my career as a cosmetic dentist, I’ve always tried to preserve as much tooth structure as possible when performing dentistry. I want you to have beautiful teeth so that you can laugh and smile until the end of your days. Not just the next few years. So, when I design smiles, I look at it from a functional angle, a cosmetic angle and a longevity angle.
Porcelain Veneers last on average 10-20 years. I want to know when those decades are up, that I have strong healthy teeth under the veneers so I can put on another set. All too often you will see
on social media over-prepped teeth, or I’ll see them in my office when I remove old dentistry done elsewhere. I always prep and shave as little as possible to make sure the teeth stay strong.
And now with new techniques and understanding about porcelain and bonding I can often perform NO PREP, NO SHAVE PORCELAIN VENEER SMILE MAKEOVERS.
It is exactly what it sounds like. I can bond your teeth to porcelain veneers without taking one speck of enamel off of your teeth. Amazing, right?
What’s the catch? Why don’t I always do no prep veneers?
Well unfortunately not everyone is a candidate.
Who is a candidate for no prep porcelain veneers?
- People with small or medium sized teeth that would like them to be bigger. They don’t have to get much bigger, but at least a little bigger. Fortunately, this is the case for the majority of smile makeovers.
- People whose teeth are straight or tipped inwards towards the inside of the mouth. This allows me space to add the porcelain veneer on the outside of the teeth without making them appear too large.
- People who want whiter teeth, but their teeth aren’t extremely dark. I can make teeth whiter and give people that perfect white they’re looking for if their teeth are an average color. But, if they are extremely dark sometimes the no prep veneers are not thick enough to block out all the color. So, we have to prep a little, or not go as white on the finals
- People who don’t have a lot of old dentistry and cavities on their teeth. If you have fillings or cavities on your front teeth, its better to prep a little so the veneer can cover up those weakened areas.
Who is not a candidate for no prep porcelain veneers?
- People whose teeth are extremely dark
- People who have very large teeth already and we don’t want to make them larger
- People whose teeth are too crowded
- People whose teeth are not straight enough. Especially if they are sticking outwards towards the lips.
- People who have had lots of existing old dental work or new cavities on their front teeth.
The good news is that some of these issues can be fixed with Invisalign. If your teeth are too crowded or sticking out too far, we can do Invisalign first. We move the teeth to where they need to be then do the No Prep Veneers afterwards. If the teeth are too dark, we can whiten them first.
Are no prep veneers weaker than regular veneers?
No! Some uninformed people might think that No Prep Porcelain Veneers are weaker than other types of veneers and crowns. This is NOT true. In fact, they are some of the strongest restorations we do in dentistry. The reason for this is that the chemical bond we have to enamel, which is the outer part of the tooth is the strongest bond in dentistry. If the tooth is broken, or too much tooth is shaved down, then we are bonding to the inner part of the tooth (called dentin) underneath the enamel. This bond is strong too, but not nearly as strong to the bond to enamel.
Are these Lumineers? Do you do Lumineers?
No and No. Approximately 15 years ago Lumineers were marketing heavily directly to the public as a no prep veneer solution. The company claimed that they had a proprietary porcelain that allowed this to be possible. Lumineers were manufactured in large mass-producing labs, and from the cases I personally have seen, placed on teeth that were not always great candidates for no prep veneers. In my opinion, what we got were a lot of unnatural looking shapes and contours that gave porcelain veneers a bad name. They were heavily marketed, and to this day non-dentists will still sometimes use the term Lumineers synonymously for no prep veneers.
The no prep veneers I make are not mass-produced and definitely not a one size fits all solution. My no prep veneers, just like my minimally prepped veneers, are custom made to my specifications and made hand in hand with a master ceramicist.
How come I’ve seen some of your videos/photos on social media that look like a lot of tooth structure was shaved down?
A lot of the smile makeovers I do are on people who have either old veneers or have lots of previous damage to their teeth. So, when I remove the old dentistry, clean out the old fillings and cavities, sometimes the teeth look rather damaged. It pains me to see that, too. But I always clean them out, preserve as much healthy tooth structure as possible and build them back stronger than before I started.
What is the best way to get started with no prep veneers?
The best way is to click the link below, submit a couple selfies and tell me you’re interested in no prep veneers. I’ll then send you back a personal video explaining your options, whether or not you’re a candidate for no prep veneers and the cost of your treatment. The virtual consult is FREE!
After that we’ll have you in for a in person cosmetic consult and I’ll likely do a Smile Test Drive on you.
This is the process in which I design a rough draft of your smile makeover right on the spot on your teeth. It allows you to get an idea of what you will look like with veneers, even before you buy them.
Do You Want To Improve Your Smile?
TAKE OUR VIRTUAL CONSULT to find out some of your options.
- Upload A Smile Selfie
- Tell Us What You'd Like To Achieve
- Receive A Personalized Consultation From The Dentist
