When you are out and about in the world, your smile is often one of the first things someone notices about you. If you aren’t confident with your smile, you may not show it off, which can lead to people thinking you are stand-offish. If you’re not comfortable with your smile due to cosmetic issues like stains or chips, you may be wondering what you can do. The good news is you have several options.
What are Veneers?
A dental option that is designed to fill in missing or damaged teeth to help restore your smile. People will get veneers because they are embarrassed or ashamed about the missing or damaged teeth that they currently have.
What are Veneers Made out of?
Veneers are made out of plastic or composite resin. The precise material that your set will be made out of will depend on what fits best in your mouth as well as what you can afford to pay for. The plastic option tends to be a bit more affordable, but plenty of people cannot imagine life without the composite resin as their material of choice. It truly all depends on what will work best for them and what they can afford.
Is There a Downside to Veneers?
Let us take a moment to acknowledge that veneers are not all upsides. Despite what people may tell you, there are a number of negatives to getting veneers.
High Cost
There are disturbing trends in US healthcare happening every day as a result of the high cost of receiving certain treatments. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports the following:
Half of U.S. adults say they put off or skipped some sort of health care or dental care in the past year because of the cost. Three in ten (29%) also report not taking their medicines as prescribed at some point in the past year because of the cost.
Many who make the difficult choice to skip out on dental care are doing so because they do not have insurance. How then is someone supposed to cover the $1,300 per traditional veneer tab that these things can cost? If people don’t even have enough money to cover routine dental care, then they certainly don’t have enough to cover that kind of cost.
A Lasting Decision
A dentist who places veneers in your mouth must literally change the placement of your teeth in order to pull this off. As such, the operation is permanent and irreversible. Talk about a lot of pressure!
Replacement Cost
Although the veneer procedure is irreversible, this doesn’t mean that the veneers themselves last forever. Rather, they typically have to be replaced about once every ten years. Thus, you need to be prepared to pony up a large sum of money every decade or so if you decide to go the traditional veneer route.
What is the Process of Getting Veneers?
The process for getting veneers put in takes some time, and some people say they experience discomfort when going through this. Here are the basic steps that you can expect to go through if you are getting veneers for the first time:
- On your first appointment, the dentist will take a small amount of enamel off of your teeth
- The dentist will make an impression of your teeth and also determine the nature shade of your teeth
- That information will be sent off to a lab for processing
- The lab creates your custom veneers (you may have temporary veneers put in while waiting on your permanent set)
- Once your permanent veneers arrive, the dentist will make sure they are a proper fit and bond them to your teeth
- The veneers are exposed to a special light for approximately 60 seconds to bond them completely to your teeth
What Can You Get Instead of Veneers?
There are several options for fixing cosmetic issues with your teeth, including traditional veneers, dental bonding, dental implants, and snap-on veneers.
Traditional Veneers
Traditional veneers are a permanent addition to your teeth. They are made of an extremely thin material, often porcelain, that is bonded to the front of your teeth. The process of applying traditional veneers does require a part of your enamel to be cut out.
Porcelain is the most common material used because it’s adaptable and looks natural. It is also hard to stain, which means your smile can stay looking the way you want for a long time.
Dental Bonding
If you want to go the route of dental bonding, you will have resin placed on top of your tooth. The dentist then takes the resin and reshapes it. This process is typically used to repair or reshape a broken tooth. You should consider dental bonding if you have broken or fractured one or more of your teeth.
Dental Implants
If you have an issue with your tooth’s roots, dental implants may be an option. Dental implants give you a strong foundation for fixed/permanent teeth or removable replacement teeth. In addition, they can be made to match your natural teeth.
Snap-on Veneers
As opposed to the other types of veneers, snap-on veneers are not permanent at all. They are created via a mold kit, so they match the shape of your teeth perfectly. You can slide them on and off whenever you want. In fact, it’s recommended to take them out when heating hot or sticky foods, along with when you are sleeping. Of course, you can keep them in during those activities, but the snap-on veneers will not last as long. If you grind your teeth while sleeping, it will cause your snap-on veneers to break down much more quickly.
How Do You Get Perfect Teeth Without Veneers?
There are other alternatives if you don’t want to get veneers.
Professional Teeth Whitening
You can go into your dentist’s office to get teeth whitening done. The dentist will prepare a mix that uses bleach and apply it to your teeth. The bleach mix is highly potent, so the dentist has to be extra careful not to get it all over your gums. You will generally have to go for several appointments, but over time your teeth can become several shades whiter. It can cost you anywhere from $500-$1,000 for teeth whitening.
At-Home Teeth Whitening
You can also buy products at the store to help try to whiten your teeth. There are products like teeth-whitening toothpaste and whitening strips. Since anyone can buy these, they are not as effective as going to the dentist. They have to be a lower potency, so you don’t end up bleaching parts of your mouth you didn’t intend to bleach. The cost of these products can vary quite a bit, and it will also take much longer for them to work.
Teeth Straighteners
If your problem is that your teeth are crooked, you could look into a teeth-straightening system like Invisalign. This product provides you with something to place over your teeth that, over time, puts them in the correct position. However, these products also tend to run on the more expensive side. For example, Invisalign treatments usually cost between $3,000 and $7,000, with the average person spending around $5,000.
How Much Does a Full Set of Veneers Cost?
Veneers can quickly become an expensive option. Here is a cost breakdown of what each type of dental work would cost.
Traditional Veneers
The cost of traditional veneers can vary depending on what type of material is being used. However, it will generally cost between $800 and $2,500 per tooth. So, if you need veneers for several teeth, you could be looking at spending several thousand dollars.
Dental Bonding
Since dental bonding is fixing a tooth rather than basically replacing it, the cost is a little bit lower. For dental bonding, you will usually spend between $300 and $600 per tooth. If you need several teeth worked on, this can quickly add up.
Dental Implants
Dental implants are by far the most expensive up-front cost for dental work. Implants are designed to last a lifetime, so you may ultimately spend less money over time but will have to fork over much more at the beginning. When you consider the cost of the implant, crown, office visits, and other essential parts of the procedure, you are looking at spending $3,000-$4,800 per implant. If you need multiple implants, which would be the case if you have several missing teeth, it can easily become extremely expensive.
Snap-on Veneers
On the other hand, snap-on veneers are a much more economical option. You can get a complete top and bottom set of Shiny Smile Snap-on Veneers for only $570. You can also get just the top or bottom arch for $370.
You can choose to pay the whole amount up-front or choose a payment plan. For a full set of veneers, you can pay $295 upfront and pay $99 for three months. For top or bottom arch veneers, you can break it down into two payments of $190.
What are Snap-On Veneers?
Snap-on veneers are a more affordable option for patients who require veneers but do not have the funding necessary to pay for a traditional set. The cost difference between snap-on veneers and traditional veneers is enormous. For example, the approximate cost of a pair of snap-on veneers is roughly $570 per set. Meanwhile, a single traditional veneer can cost as much as $1,300.
Another big upside to snap-on veneers is that they are far easier to remove and do not represent a permanent decision on the part of the patient. That is to say that a patient isn’t making a decision that they cannot reverse when they get snap-on veneers. The same cannot be said for those who choose traditional veneers. Those who go the traditional route are potentially taking a much bigger risk because they are going to have to live with the choice that they are making forever.
How Long do Snap-On Veneers Last?
The average snap-on veneers last approximately 3-5 years. This is a shorter period of time than the 10 years or so that one might expect to get out of traditional veneers, but the cost of snap-on veneers is so much lower. Replacing permanent veneers every decade is still vastly more expensive than replacing snap-on ones every 3 to 5 years. Monetarily, there is no question that snap-on veneers are still the way to go.
Should you do something that gets your snap-on veneers damaged before the 3 to 5 year period is up, you can always go back to your dentist for a replacement pair. It is something that you hope you don’t have to do, but at least you know the option is available to you if you should need to use it.
Can You Eat with Snap-On Veneers?
You don’t have to worry that your ability to eat will be impaired by having snap-on veneers. They are literally designed to allow you to eat as you normally would without any problems. Snap-on veneers are meant to work with the natural formation of your mouth so you aren’t having to struggle to eat or do anything else that you would normally do.
There are certain foods that may pose a challenge to you when trying to eat with snap-on veneers. These include any foods that are particularly hard or otherwise difficult to chew regardless. You should avoid those foods if you can when wearing snap-on veneers. However, those foods would have been hard for you to eat even if you were not wearing snap-on veneers at the time.
Keep all of this in mind and practice safe oral habits when you first get your snap-on veneers placed in your mouth in particular.
Conclusion
Your teeth are an important part of how people see you. If you aren’t comfortable with your teeth, you might be looking for a way to make them look better. Check out our FAQ page to learn more about what we offer at Shiny Smile Veneers. Feel free to contact us with any other questions you have.