subject: Veneers are Durable but Not Unbreakable [print this page] The 1980s marked the 20th year of successful fight against tooth decay in the United States, yet also the start of a problem brought about by that success. General dentistry may have lost its revenues but this was just transferred to the now flourishing cosmetic dentistry. Today, more than 80 percent of the nation's 130,000 dentists do cosmetic work, and many report it is the fastest growing part of their practice.
It can be estimated that almost half of the $32 billion annual revenues of dentistry comes from the practice's cosmetic branch, says a book author and professor at a medical college in Georgia. Cosmetic work has tripled compared to five years ago, says the president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. That increase has come about largely because of the availability of better materials.
A prominent example will be the porcelain laminates that are thin veneers that are laid on the existing teeth and bonded into place. To prevent scratching its surface, patients must not bite their nails or chomp on spareribs. But most dentists say that with minimal care, the laminates are durable and virtually undetectable. Ten porcelain laminates procedures a month can secure $250,000 to the dentist's annual revenue.
Bleaching will join the list of the popular cosmetic dental treatments in the US today and it is a chemical whitening procedure that costs around $100 to $200 per treatment. A big part of the clients that are having these procedures done are entertainers and politicians. Even people who are not always seen by the public are patronizing, particularly the men. Men now comprise 40 percent of cosmetic clients, which is a 20 percent leap from a few years ago.
Although dentists have long been using porcelain, it was only recently that porcelain veneers, and the covering technique to current teeth has been fully refined. American manufacturers will be closing a sale for more than 300,000 porcelain laminates for $20 million just for this year. For the meantime, porcelain is the state of the art material, but dental cosmeticians are always on the lookout for a better bond. Small particles of ceramics are being mixed into a resin base by a dentist to form caps and bridges. Once the mold is formed in the mouth, the caps are baked in an oven for seven minutes. You get caps that are at list twice as strong as porcelain laminates as result, at about half the price.
As long as the specially designed oven which costs $1000 is available in the premises, the dentist can do bake bonding right there. While one dentist is working with ovens, another New York dentist has developed a patented silk bonding process that he says increases bonding strength by 300 percent. However, it is 25 percent more expensive than the present bonding. An official of the ADA acknowledged that the baking technique used does strengthen composite materials, but the improvement is not that significant.
There is one more technique which actually eliminates the need for bonding in certain instances. Now, they are simply applying hydrogen peroxide to bleach them. There have yet to be any reported side effects, according to the dentists, but the discoloration will reappear through time. An isolated problem of cosmetic dentists is that the clients are not so clear about the result of cosmetic alterations and majority will come back because of uncertainty.
A professor at a university in Southern California has installed a computer system in his office that allows patients to see in advance how they might look after dental cosmetic work. A video camera is part of the system as well as an electronic pen and writing pad, which ale all connected to a computer with a color screen. The purpose of the camera is to capture the pre procedure smile which eventually will be displayed on the color monitor. The cosmetic changes expected such as whitening teeth, closing gaps or smoothing uneven edges may be illustrated with the use of the electronic pad and pen.
Their smile when seen up close is different from what most people expected to see. Seeing the great improvement in appearance for only the slightest change will amaze them even more.
