I am a little confused about my smile makeover. I thought I was getting porcelain veneers, but when it was done, they seem to cover the whole tooth, not just the front. Is this normal for porcelain veneers? Should I be concerned?
Penny
Dear Penny,
You are correct that porcelain veneers just cover the front of the tooth. If yours are going all the way around your tooth, then that means you were given porcelain crowns. Every once in a while, in the midst of preparing a smile makeover, a dentist may notice a tooth that has an issue and needs a crown instead of a veneer, but your dentist should have discussed this with you before going forward.
Preparing a tooth for a crown is much more aggressive than for veneers. It also weakens your teeth and puts them at a greater risk of breaking further on down the line. I would talk to your dentist and ask him the reasoning behind doing crowns? It was unethical to make the change or misrepresent what he provided you.
The thing to ask at this point is how your feel about the look of your smile makeover. Crowns or veneers, are you in love with the smile? If so, I wouldn’t ask for a refund. however, I will tell him you are concerned about the weakening of the teeth and ask him to take some responsibility if a tooth breaks as a result.
If, however, you are not pleased with the smile makeover, you are within your rights to ask for a refund. Then, I would like you to get this re-done by a skilled cosmetic dentist. In your place, I would look for an AACD accredited cosmetic dentist to redo your makeover.
This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.