Can You Get Veneers with Missing Teeth?
If you’re familiar with popular cosmetic treatments, you’ve probably heard of veneers, and you know that they are often used to repair a person’s smile and restore its dazzle. If you’re missing one or more of your natural teeth, you may be wondering what options you have to restore your own smile, and you may be curious about veneers. While veneers are an effective way to hide discolored, stained, or damaged teeth, they can only be used on natural teeth. A veneer is a very thin layer of porcelain that is bonded to the surface of the teeth, restoring the luster, shape, and color of the teeth, but if there is no tooth present, there is no surface for the veneer to bond to.
Veneers might not be an option for restoring your missing teeth, but it’s important to learn about the options that do exist. Even if you’re missing a tooth that isn’t readily visible when you smile, like a tooth that’s missing from the back of the mouth, it’s important to replace the tooth. Leaving a missing tooth unrestored can cause problems with the oral health and the integrity of the jaw, and no matter how costly the restoration may seem, the long-term results of missing teeth will have far greater costs. In the short term, missing teeth cause the bone in the jaw to deteriorate which allows the remaining teeth to migrate in the mouth. This often leads to increased incidence of tooth decay and gum disease as the teeth become more crowded and difficult to clean, which eventually leads to even more teeth falling out. Jaw atrophy that occurs because of missing teeth also causes the shape of the lower face to change, appearing sunken and disproportionately old-aged. Additionally, of course, when teeth are missing, a person’s ability to eat and speak comfortably is affected.
There are some solutions to missing teeth that are readily available and affordable, like removable dentures, and, while these can help restore the wearer’s ability to eat some foods and can generally restore their speech, they can also damage the gum tissue and the jawbone, and they are often inconvenient and uncomfortable. Dental implants, on the other hand, help restore the health of the jawbone while supporting and anchoring dental restorations that are comfortable and natural. Dental health specialists routinely recommend dental implants for patients who want a highly attractive and functional dental restoration option.
A dental implant is a small metal post, usually made of titanium, that is surgically implanted into the jawbone in place of a natural tooth root. After it is placed, the implant site gets time to heal; as the bone heals, it fuses with the dental implant post. The process of bone fusing to the implant is called osseointegration, and once osseointegration has occurred, the post is securely anchored into the bone, forming a permanent foundation for a dental restoration. To complete the implant procedure, your dentist will fit an abutment to the top of the implant and then affix a dental crown to the abutment. Dental implants can be used to replace single teeth or rows of teeth, and in some cases, a row of a few teeth can be supported effectively by a single implant. While veneers may not be an option for people who are missing teeth, dental implants can be custom crafted to look completely natural and restore a glowing smile just as well as veneers.