You want a beautiful smile, and you’re willing to get some cosmetic dentistry done to make that happen. That’s great — as long as you don’t mix up these two very different dental treatments: veneers and dental crowns.
A Trend Gone Wrong:
You may have heard of the “veneer check” trend on social media apps like TikTok, where people share before/after shots of their dental work to show off their upgraded smiles. Many of these users share videos of their teeth filed down into what they call shark teeth or turkey teeth. But there’s a problem — that’s not what’s supposed to happen when you get veneers.
Unfortunately, these users aren’t showing off brand-new veneers during their “veneer checks.” They’re showing off dental crowns.
What Are Veneers?
Veneers are a popular cosmetic dental treatment designed to give you picture-perfect teeth. So, if you’re worried about having stained, crooked, or chipped teeth, you can go to a Hamilton dental office and book a consultation to discuss your plans for this treatment. Then you can have the smile that you’ve always dreamed about.
But what are they, and how do they work? Veneers are strong, wafer-thin shells of acrylic or porcelain. They’re form-fitted and bonded to all of your teeth so that they stay firmly in place while you’re eating, drinking, talking, and going through the motions of everyday life.
What Are Crowns?
Dental crowns are not wafer-thin shells — they’re caps. While they can certainly make a person’s smile look nicer, crowns are not considered an entirely cosmetic treatment. They’re practical. Crowns are made for decaying, broken, or damaged teeth — not for teeth that are stained, chipped, or crooked. According to this dentist in medford, dentists would never recommend dental crowns for reasons other than the aforementioned ones.
A trustworthy dentist would never recommend this to you unless you needed it.
Why Would You Choose Veneers over Crowns?
The first reason is that getting porcelain veneers isn’t an invasive procedure. The preparation is minimal. The dentist may shave off a tiny bit of your tooth to get the best fit for the veneer. The treatment will not permanently damage the structure of your natural tooth. Some types of dental veneers require no shaving whatsoever.
On the other hand, a dental crown procedure involves filing down the outer layer of the tooth until they form little pegs to put the caps over. This is what those TikTok users referred to as their “shark” or “turkey” teeth.
Once the outer layer of the tooth is shaved down, it does not grow back. The effect is permanent, which is why the technique is usually reserved for damaged teeth.
Another problem with getting crown treatments when you don’t need them is that they can cause a lot of complications, like nerve damage. Experts admit that the social media influencers who got the procedure done at a young age may need dentures in their forties because they’ve compromised the health of their natural teeth. That’s taking a lot of risk for a beautiful smile.
Don’t make the same mistake and risk your dental health for a set of “perfect” teeth. If you want to upgrade your smile, talk to your dentist about getting porcelain veneers — not crowns.
Read Also: