RECENTLY the singer and reality television star Stacey Solomon has come out and said how she is unhappy with her veneers. On Loose Women Stacey told viewers that she hated her teeth.
"I thought I’d have nice bright white teeth, but they’re the bane of my life – I hate them. "I think they’re so ugly and so fake – they’re massive.’"
One of the biggest concerns that patients have before starting veneer treatment is that the teeth will look fake or big. However, there are some patients who seek out a fake look and are happy with it, like Rylan Clark.
The reason that patients think that veneers and crowns look unnatural is because your eye is only drawn to dentistry that sticks out; really good veneers and crowns can’t be distinguished from teeth. I often think that if my patient was in a room full of dentists and they can’t tell which are the crowns then I've passed the test.
So what makes veneers look natural and how are they achieved?
Natural teeth actually have buckets of characterisation in them, even super white teeth. Real tooth colour is not uniform from top to bottom; rather, there’s a gradation of colour with patches of colour throughout, a bit like a sunset sky.
Also teeth differ in how much translucent or 'see-through' enamel is present. You may notice that some people's teeth look more solidly creamy, while others have a blueish tint at the edges. It’s all these minute colour changes that help break up the tooth and allow light to bounce, giving the natural appearance.
There are umpteen different tooth shapes. So when creating someone's smile, crowns and veneers have to shaped to the individual. In general perfect symmetry in a smile tends to look artificial so by artistically shaping teeth and adding in appropriate
spaces it gives a more natural end result.
A good way to see if you like your veneers before the real ones are fitted is to have really good temporary teeth fitted. These can then be adjusted so that the size and shape is agreed on.
Crucially, the more artistic and experienced the lab technician is, the more attractive the veneer will be. The technician copies the shape of the temporaries, adding in beautiful colour shading to give the best results.
So if you are unhappy with your veneers you don’t need to just put up with them; by using different materials and techniques natural smiles can be created to give back smiling confidence.
