Your Gorgeous Dental Veneers Can Last for Years to Come

Dental veneers have made their mark on the world of cosmetic dentistry by providing patients with a great way to replace tooth enamel that has become damaged, discolored, or otherwise unattractive. For many people, this is a long-term solution since the veneer will be cemented in place and hence is not something that can be removed very easily. As a result, many of our patients want to know how long dental veneers typically last without needing to be repaired or replaced. The answer to this question is usually at least 10 years, but there are a sufficient number of factors that come in to play, which can influence that number in either direction. There have been numerous studies on this exact issue as many cosmetic and other dentists want a clear answer on how long their patients can expect dental veneers to last. One study conducted on the longevity of dental veneers found the following. In 96 percent of the participants, we found the veneers lasted a minimum of five to six years. This group was overlapped with a second group of 93 percent, whose dental veneers lasted between 10 and 11 years. A third significant group found that their dental veneers lasted between 12 and 13 years, accounting for 91 percent of the studied population. After 13 years, we found a small drop off in longevity, with only 71 percent of the participants reporting that their dental veneers lasted between 15 and 16 years. Even with these kinds of odds, it is relatively safe to say that your dental veneers will last at least 10 years as long as you take good care of them.

When considering dental veneers, in terms of longevity, it is important to look at the whole picture. This means that you have to be willing to understand that there is a great deal of human interference that can cause the veneers to fail earlier than they should. The two leading causes of failure, as recorded in studies, have a direct correlation with how people treat their teeth. Teeth are not tools and should not be used as such, since treating them in this calloused manner can damage the enamel and cause the dental veneer to fracture or crack. We have found that in more than 45 percent of cases where the dental veneer failed, there was a fracture involved. This means that the person was doing something with their teeth that they should not have been or were placing undue pressure on the tooth. Additionally, there is 28 percent of dental veneers that failed because they had a crack, again a manifestation of some kind of physical trauma placed on the veneers. It is up to you, as the user, to ensure that you are not putting undue pressure on either your teeth or your dental veneers.

The other area where you can impact how long your dental veneers last is by making sure that you have great oral hygiene. In up to 20 percent of cases, we find that bad oral hygiene leads to veneer loss.

Orthodontics  >  Family Dentistry

How a Dentist for Kids and Our Family Dentistry Office Uses Antibiotics

Being a dentist for kids has given us the opportunity to work with some of the most modern and most tested methods to help you prevent or cure diseases in our family dentistry office. Among these tools, one of the most powerful we have is antibiotics. Since 1928, with the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, antibiotics have made a huge impact on how we treat, cure, and even perceive bacterial infections in the mouth. One of the things we are very cognizant of when treating any condition, including a bacterial infection is that there is a holistic approach that should be taken. When we are treating you at your family dentist, we want to take things slowly unless there is an emergency and make sure that every treatment option we present is something both effective and measured. Recently, there has been an alarming increase in the number of cases across the spectrum of medical disciplines in the number of bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics. While it is true that antibiotics came along and gave us a huge weapon against infections, it is important to make sure any cure is not overused, which is why we have decided to take a much more careful approach to the use of antibiotics, working with you and your body to ensure that we use all measures at our disposal. Often, we find many myths and urban legends associated with antibiotics that we have to dispel; here are a few of our most common.

A dentist for kids has to educate their patients about things that are true and things that are not. The most common myth we run into is the idea that antibiotics actually cure patients. The reality is that patients cure themselves, with a heavy dose of help from the antibiotics. In fact, the only thing that antibiotics do is to help reestablish the balance between the body's own antibodies and the invading infection. In our family dentistry office, we know that over 60 perfect of infections that people face are healed by their own body without any need of assistance. This is because the human body knows exactly how to fight an invader. The reason why this myth is often a problem is because people want to believe that the antibiotics their family dentist can provide them with is actually a miracle drug, since they know that when they take it, they feel better. What is important to remember is that while antibiotics help, there are many ways to fight an infection more naturally.

There are a few myths that have no basis in reality, and yet are firmly believed by patients. One of these is the idea that antibiotics have to be taken in some kind of set ritual. The reality is that treating an infection is an inexact science. As a dentist for kids we have learned what to expect from different infections on a baseline, which allows us to prescribe an antibiotic that is more than sufficient to overcome this particular infection, there is no exact way of knowing how long it would take to cure an infection of any kind.

Dentist  >  General Dentist