Dr. Hall,
I’m really interested of getting a set of veneers for my upper teeth. but two of my front teeth already have a porcelain crowns. I was wondering that if ever I’ll remove those crowns, can a porcelain veneers be placed on the teeth? Hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you very much..
Kate in Bahrain
Kate,
Porcelain veneers and porcelain crowns are similar in that they are both made out of porcelain, but the crown covers the entire tooth and the porcelain veneer only covers the front.
Once a tooth has been prepared for a crown, you can’t go back to a veneer, because you can’t leave the back and sides of the tooth uncovered.
Here is a diagram of a front tooth prepared for a porcelain crown. The preparation is very aggressive, because in order for the crown to fit over the tooth, the tooth has to be tapered slightly.
And then this is a photograph of a tooth prepared for a porcelain veneer. This preparation is very conservative, because the veneer just has to fit over the front of the tooth.
There are some dentists who will shave back the crown somewhat and put a porcelain veneer over a crown, but I don’t recommend this. You don’t save any money, because it’s the same amount of work to put a veneer over the crown as it is to just do a new crown. And not only does this option not look as nice, but a crown with a veneer bonded over it has many points of vulnerability where it could fail later, where a new crown will last much longer. A good cosmetic dentist will simply replace the crown, and a good cosmetic dental laboratory will have no problem getting the new crown to match the porcelain veneers.
Dr. Hall
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About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
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