Dental veneers are excellent treatment options for minor dental issues, giving patients straighter and whiter teeth. While veneers may serve as permanent cosmetic solutions, it’s important to know that they can also wear out.
Therefore, knowing the best time to replace your dental veneers in St. Louis, MO, is one way to keep your smile vibrant and beautiful. Although it may be challenging to know when to replace a veneer due to its long-lasting nature, you can visit the dentist to guide you on when to replace it. Here’s why our dentists in St. Louis, Dr. Azaryas Mandefro and Dr. Lentz, have given signs in this guide that indicate your veneers are ripe for replacement.
Is Replacing Your Veneers Necessary?
Veneers are custom-made shells fitted over the front surfaces of your teeth. They help to conceal teeth stains, chips, cracks, and other cosmetic flaws.
Although our veneers in St. Louis are very durable, they can get worn down without proper maintenance. Like your teeth, veneers can break, get stained, and lose their fitting. You must replace them in such cases to ensure your smile stays intact.
Hence, replacing your stained or cracked veneers is not only an option but also necessary to improve the quality of your smile and overall appearance. Visit your dentist to help take a look at your veneers and provide the best solution.
How To Know When To Replace Your Veneers: 4 Signs To Look For
On average, a dental veneer has a lifespan of about 10 years. However, proper care and treatment can extend the lifespan to 30 years. During the course of the useful life of your dental veneers, a few things could occur and require that your dental veneers be replaced. If any of the following occurs, you may have to schedule an early appointment with your St. Louis dentist to replace your veneers.
1. You Have Stained Veneers
In the same way your natural teeth can get stained, a highly color-concentrated food and drink can stain your veneer if consumed in excess. Unlike your natural teeth, stained veneers cannot be whitened. So if the stains are not coming off when you brush, you will need to have them replaced to restore your bright smile. Also, if the material used in bonding the veneer begins to darken over time, you must visit your dentist to change it.
2. You Have Cracked Veneers
Porcelain veneers are durable but can wear down and crack, especially when biting on hard food. If you have a veneer that is cracked, chipped, or worn down, then it’s time to replace it. Chipped veneers can affect your ability to talk and eat properly. They also defeat the aesthetic purpose of wearing a veneer in the first place.
3. A Tooth Under Your Veneer Is Decayed
Dental veneers are designed to fit over an underlying tooth tightly, blocking out cosmetic flaws and any decay-causing bacteria. However, they can, at some point in time, become a little loose, causing bacteria to thrive and the supporting tooth to decay. The veneers may start to detach, and it becomes necessary to replace them. Your dentists in St. Louis, Dr. Mandefro and Dr. Lentz, will remove the veneer to treat the decay before installing a new one.
4. You’ve Had Your Veneers Fitted for a Long Time
Your dental veneers should be smooth and not rough, giving you a nice aesthetic appearance. But if you’ve had them for a long time, they may feel rough around the edges or on the surface.
When your veneer feels anything other than shiny and smooth like your natural teeth, it means there’s something wrong with the material. Contact your dentist to look at your veneers and possibly get a replacement.
How Often Do You Have To Replace Your Veneers?
If you have been wondering how often you need to replace your veneers after getting them, the answer is that there is no cap on how much time you can replace them. Veneers are designed for long-term cosmetic dentistry solutions and can last up to 10 years without replacement.
However, if they are stained, cracked, or chipped, or if the bonding material is beginning to darken, you are expected to replace them to restore the beautiful smile you once had. But with proper maintenance and excellent oral hygiene, you can use your veneers longer without replacing them regularly.
Get Affordable Dental Veneers in St. Louis, MO
At Soulard Family Dentistry, we provide affordable porcelain veneers in St. Louis to help correct cracked and chipped teeth and give you the perfect smile makeover. Our team of professional dentists desires to improve the quality of your dental health and the confidence in your smile.
If you have cracked, stained, or loose veneers, our St. Louis dentist will help you replace them and ensure they are fitted properly over your teeth. Schedule an evaluation today, and let us provide you with the best and most affordable cosmetic treatment in St. Louis.
