Porcelain Veneers

Veneers are thin semi-translucent “shells typically attached to the front teeth. Veneers are customized porcelain material that is permanently bonded to your teeth and do wonders to improve the appearance of your smile. Veneers are a wonderful aesthetic solution to your smile and it may even help you avoid orthodontic treatment. Both subtle and dramatic changes to your smile can be achieved. Porcelain veneers are commonly used to:

1. Repair chipped teeth
2. Change the shape/length of teeth
3. Close spaces between teeth.
4. Improve appearance of crooked teeth
5. Cover discolored teeth.

Procedure details:

Porcelain veneers generally take 2 visits to complete after the patient has had a cosmetic consultation. Your cosmetic dentist will perform a Smile Design with Trial Smile Process taking into account the patients face shape, lip symmetry, skin tone, and profile.

On the day of the procedure, the dentist may remove a small amount of enamel from each tooth. An impression will be taken and temporary veneers will be fitted while the final restorations are being fabricated. Drs. Brita and Matthew Loeppke use the best ceramists in the country. No cases are sent to China or mass production laboratories.

After about 3 weeks, the porcelain veneers will be ready to permanently bonded to the patients’ teeth. The dentists will check the fit and color and when both the dentists and patient are satisfied a bonding cement will be used to secure the porcelain veneers to the teeth.

Porcelain veneers can be very long lasting. The longevity depends on the patient’s maintenance, habits, and care. It is recommended that the patient practices proper home hygiene and returns to the dental office for professional dental cleanings and examinations.

The old sayings, “You get what you pay for…” and “If it sounds too good to be true, it is…” are applicable here. Among other things, the cost of a porcelain veneer is based on the skill level of the practitioner, the quality of his/her equipment/technologies, and the quality of materials and laboratory technician used. Simply stated, a veneer is not a veneer. Consider this and apply it to dentistry: one can shop for shoes at Payless, Kohls, Nordstrom, or a bespoke shoemaker; they all offer shoes, but we intuitively know these shoes are not all the same. They represent different levels of quality and artistry and therefore vary in cost. The same goes for dentistry–especially cosmetic dentistry. The services and results we offer are along the lines of Nordstrom or a bespoke designer.

Drs. Brita and Matthew Loeppke utilize a unique smile design process. We know it is helpful to see how you will feel with your new beautiful smile. We will place composite bonding directly on your teeth or take an impression and wax-up your new teeth. This “trial smile” will help you and your dentist determine how many teeth need to be restored to achieve your goals. The “trial smile” helps in communication and personalized fabrication of your veneers. The “trial smile” is photographed to allow you to visualize your final result before any teeth are ever touched with dental equipment. We customize veneers for your face shape, lip symmetry, and profile. This is very different from other dentists because most dentists prepare the teeth for veneers, place temporaries, and deliver the veneers in weeks. No planning often leads to poor results.

We use the highest quality dental materials available to provide accurate fitting and superior cosmetic dentistry. Our laboratory ceramists are some of the best in the country. The ceramist analyzes the models of your teeth and the series of photographs and discusses them with your dentist. Together they discuss the appropriate optical properties of porcelain and the shape of teeth that will look most natural with your face shape, shades of porcelain to enhance your skin tone, and type of veneer that will be used in your case.

Only one ceramist works on your veneers from start to finish which is very rare with dental laboratories. WE NEVER SEND ANY OF OUR WORK TO CHINA. Patient’s ceramics are being sent to China by a lot of laboratories in the United States. Dental practices that do this are not required to tell the patient that their lab sends cases to China. We know our patients want the best quality work and expect this work to be done in a clean environment. Drs. Brita and Matthew Loeppke demand the best for their patients.