What is the long-term care for porcelain veneers - Da Vinci Veneers?

Answer 1

Use non-abrasive toothpaste, Supersmile is recommended for veneers and other restorations. Use alcohol free mouthwash as the acohol can damage the bonding material that holds the veneer on - this also means that you should avoid drinking alcohol excessively, I always take a straw if I go out for a drink so the alcohol is not constantly hitting my front teeth that have 6 veneers.

Floss alot. The edge of your teeth where the veneer joins the natural tooth is very susceptable to damage because the food particles and plaque now have a little ridge to sit on.

Your dentist should clean around your veneers every six months. They can get stained around the edge where the bonding is. Make sure your dentist is using the right materials for cleaning. Non abrasive materials should be used - a regular polish with pumice will damage the surface of the veneer and power polishing equipment such as Prophy-Jet will also roughen the surface causing them to stain. A fine aluminum oxide polish should be used for veneers. Make sure that your hygienest also nows how to treat your veneers.

Ultrasonic scalers can chip the edge of the veneers so these should be avoided. A Philips Sonicare is the best power tootbhrush to use on Veneers because of it's gentle cleaning action and abiilty to clean in hard to reach areas. I wouldn't recommend an oscillating toothbrush as these can cause veneers to become loose.

Don't pull staples out of stuff with your teeth or open bottles of beer in a similar fashion. Don't snack unless you are willing to clean your teeth after every piggy raid of the fridge.

If you don't already have veneers think very hard about whether you can keep up the maintenance. Alot of sites advertising veneers talk alot about how hardwearing they are and how they don't stain, that your natural teeth are protected etc etc but in actual fact it takes alot more care to keep veneers looking good than it does normal teeth. They CAN stain at the edges so if you smoke and thought that a porcelain covering that doesn't stain was the answer for you you will be disappointed. You have to take twice as much care of your gums because if they recede only a tiny bit you will have the edge of the veneer showing and this is unsightly.

There are far fewer products that you can safely use on veneers as opposed to normal teeth so be prepared to be constantly checking ingredients and making sure dentists and hygienists are cleaning with the right products.

Finally remember that they will last ten years if you are lucky. I am only banking on mine looking good for five years before they will need replacing. I have had them two years and am already saving hard so that in three years time I can get them done again.

Hope this helps.