Can We do Veneers without Grinding away Tooth Structure?

Depending on the condition of your teeth:  Yes, we can. The answer is custom fabricated Prepless Veneers.  A prepless veneer is a super thin layer of porcelain that can be bonded on top of your existing tooth structure to change shape, contour, and color of your teeth.  In that sense, no tooth structure is removed. However, prepless veneers cannot be used when we are trying to change the shade of extremely dark teeth. Also, in some cases where severe misalignments of teeth are to be corrected, prepless veneers may not be the solution.

The best looking prepless veneers are fabricated via the hands of extremely talented and artistic dental ceramists.  These artists must be able to envision how much porcelain is needed to create the proper form of the teeth.  On another level, the ceramist must understand and envision how the colors of the natural tooth and the colors of the veneer will blend together to create the desired change.

To the untrained eyes, a piece of prepless veneer may look like it a cloudy white piece of glass, yet when placed on the tooth the restoration simply comes to life.

Outside the mouth, the prepless veneer is so thin it almost looks translucent. However, once bonded onto the tooth, the porcelain is extremely strong. One technical note that makes prepless veneers different is that fine adjustments of contours and shape are done after the porcelain is bonded in. The nature of the type of porcelain used in these cases allows the dentist to be able to make customized fine adjustments and to polish the porcelain to a super high luster finish.

Case selection and handling by the right clinicians is crucial.  However, I believe that with the right combination of dentist/ceramist team prepless veneers offer our patient a fantastic treatment option to enhance the smile effectively and conservatively.

Below is a photo of a prepless veneer I recently placed.

Images of actual patients of Alex Nguyen, DDS are Copyrighted and Digitally Embedded to track Unauthorized Use.

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Alex Nguyen, DDS is a Saratoga Dentist who practices General Dentistry, Cosmetic, and Implant Dentistry. For over 20 years the practice has been serving the residents of Santa Clara County and San Francisco Bay Area.