I was searching on You Tube the other day and came across a video that said “what your orthodontist doesn’t want you to know”. Intrigued I sallied forth to watch said video. The video featured a very pretty young lady with, from what I could see, moderate crookedness of her teeth, especially the lower ones. She opted for veneers to cover her front teeth and is delighted with the result – so much so she is going to do the lowers next. Now whilst I believe there is a place for veneers (especially for worn or discoloured teeth), her teeth looked healthy and a good colour so I couldn’t fathom why she would go for at least 8 to 10 veneers on the top (they looked exactly the same colour as before) and would no doubt have at least 6 on the bottom. I hope her dentist has explained the burden of care she has opened herself up to.
Many people are told that a tooth veneer is like a false nail – this implies it fits over the surface of the tooth, but do they realise that; 1/2th-1 mm of the tooth needs to be drilled away to fit the veneer onto it; that porcelain can cause accelerated wear of teeth in the opposite jaw; that they will most likely need replacing at least once in their lifetime because they can become chipped or broken; and the cost of what she has done would no doubt have been much greater than straightening her teeth with braces.
Treatment with braces would have preserved her healthy teeth, ok it takes longer but the only additional burden is having to wear a retainer for 1-2 nights per week indefinitely and these are much cheaper to replace than a mouth full of veneers. So should the question have been “what your cosmetic dentist doesn’t want you to know!?”