Knowing whether dental implants or veneers is the best course of treatment for you depends on whether you need cosmetic or restorative dentistry. A dental veneer provides an aesthetic improvement to the appearance of your teeth, while implants are used to replace missing teeth. Let’s compare veneers with implants and highlight some of the differences.
What Is A Dental Veneer?
Veneers are thin shells or covers that are placed over teeth to improve their appearance. Veneers can be used to improve the size, shape, or colour of your teeth, as well as to address irregular gaps and spaces. They are placed over your natural teeth, but some grinding down of the enamel of your teeth needs to occur, in order for a veneer to blend in with your natural smile.
What Are Dental Implants?
Implants perform the role of artificial tooth roots when you have lost one or more teeth. Dental implants are used to replace the missing tooth roots, and are usually crafted from titanium. They are permanent tooth replacements, and need to be fitted with an abutment and crown.
Which Is Better, Dental Veneers Or Implants?
In order to understand which course of treatment is best suited to your needs, you first need to be evaluated by your dentist. Existing teeth that might be damaged, cracked, chipped or discoloured can be enhanced with a veneer. They can also be used to make a smile more uniform, but they use your existing teeth as a base.
If you need to have teeth extracted, or have been missing teeth for a while, and need to have them replaced – either for cosmetic reasons or to prevent bone loss and teeth shifting – your dental practitioner will probably recommend implants.
The Benefits Of Dental Veneers
Dental veneers are best suited for minor corrections per individual tooth. They are placed relatively quickly and provide an almost-instant smile make-over. Patients who want a more durable and longer lasting veneer and are willing to spend the extra budget may be interested in porcelain, while patients looking for a more cost effective alternative would probably look to composite resin as a substance.
Over the last few years, the cost of dental veneers has become increasingly more affordable, as demand has increased and technologies and skills have improved.
While they can last for quite a long time with proper care, at best you can expect a ten year lifespan.
The Benefit Of Tooth Implants
Dental implants are most effective for tooth replacements and major damage, such as damage done below the gum line. When high quality implants are used, planned and placed by a suitably qualified and experienced dental practitioner, they can last for many decades, and sometimes for the rest of your lifetime.
The true cost of implants doesn’t only involve cost, it is quite a lengthy and time-consuming process to replace missing teeth and patients can expect around 18-months of procedures and healing when they sign up for a dental implant. A veneer procedure can be completed in just three or four visits to your dentist.
Which Is Cheaper Dental Veneers Or Implants?
The cost presentation for a dental implant is easier to plan around as it is usually presented as one complete cost. The capital outlay for dental implants is higher than for veneers. But, while your veneers might only last 10 or 15 years, they will need to be replaced later on, and that cost needs to be factored in.
Still wondering whether dental implants or veneers are best for your smile? We’d love to help you. Please contact us for the most convenient appointment: (02) 9158 6328
