07 Mar The Benefits of Braces Over Veneers

I saw a lady the other day and she had noticed one of her dental veneers had chipped. 

Her previous dentist had recommended that she have it replaced but I wasn’t so sure… the veneers looked very bulky to me and didn’t do her smile any justice so spending money to repair a chip didn’t exactly make sense.  We had a nice chat, went over her options and she’ll decide the best course of action for her.

Anyway… this got me thinking on how many patients I had done veneers for without having to replace old veneers.  Going through my records I can only find one case, the rest of my veneers have been to replace old veneers because they had fractured, didn’t look nice or the gums had receded.

Looking back over this it re-affirmed my stance that although I like the technical aspect of doing veneers (they are professionally very rewarding to do) I don’t like adjusting teeth and possible affecting the health of the teeth.

Compare this to braces; I move your teeth into a better position, we take off the braces, whiten and contour your teeth so they look great, the result lasts a very long time (as long as you wear your retainers) …and that’s it.  There are no significant long term costs, no major failures, the health of your teeth is maintained.

The downside is it takes 12-24 months, but I would argue more and more people are having braces so whats the problem?  We Brits are moving with the times more and more when it comes to our mouths.

The Clear Radiance Braces we use are discreet, they work no matter your age and when used in conjunction with other cosmetic techniques we can get a great (not just good) smile.  Yes they do take time but cost wise you can normally have a whole course of brace treatment for £3000-£4000 inclusive of planning, whitening and retainers, whereas veneers only align one tooth at a time and cost £500-£600 each.

Taking all this into account I don’t think I’m going to change.

Stuart

P.s. I always like getting questions via email so feel free to quiz me by emailing me at stuart@spiresdental.co.uk or call us on 01543 411088.