We understand that some of our patients may have concerns about porcelain veneers and so we have written this article. Provided here is an analysis of the comparisons and contrasts of porcelain teeth vs. real teeth. We have also done our best to provide as thorough an explanation of the merits of porcelain teeth vs. real teeth as possible.

Porcelain Teeth Vs. Real Teeth: Origins

Veneers

Veneers are thin dental covers made out of a glass-like material and designed by a dental professional to mimic the appearance and coloration of natural teeth. While real teeth just come into being by nature of being part of the body, porcelain veneers exist to patch up and solve problems like gaps, erosion, misalignments, chips, cracks, and even breaks in the smile.

Real Teeth

Real teeth, that is to say, organic teeth, come into existence at two points along a human’s development. The first set of teeth, commonly known as the baby or primary teeth, start to emerge from the gums somewhere between 6 to 12 months of age. The second set, known as the adult or permanent teeth, start to replace their predecessors around age 6 or 7 and continue over the years until roughly age 21; a fully adult smile consists of 16 teeth along both the top and bottom jaws.

Porcelain Teeth Vs. Real Teeth: Placement

Veneers

The process of getting porcelain veneers implanted into a mouth begins by having a dentist clean the teeth that are to be bonded to the veneers. After cleaning comes matching the porcelain’s shading to that of your natural smile so that the veneers are better obscured. The third step in this process involves eroding a super-thin layer of enamel from the teeth to be veneered; this step ensures that the implant will have a super-snug fit and minimizes the risk of it coming loose. Next, the dentist takes an impression of the relevant teeth and sends those impressions over to a lab; this lab is a facility that fabricates veneers. After the veneers are ready and sent back to your dentist’s office, you will return for a follow-up appointment where the dentist will then bond the veneers to your compromised teeth.

Real Teeth

Real teeth, by comparison, are perfectly organic and come from within, rather than from some external source like a dental lab. It should be stated that just because real teeth are organic, that fact does not mean that they are superior. After all, bad habits and other normal problems can arise that necessitate the corrective ability of veneers.

Porcelain Teeth Vs. Real Teeth: Durability/Strength

Veneers

Most people hear that veneers are made of porcelain and worry that they are getting a delicate replacement for the sturdy natural materials of a human tooth; these people are misinformed. While they are made of porcelain, veneers are bonded to the tooth, meaning that the tooth is giving just as much strength to the veneer as it has on its own. One benefit of veneers over natural teeth is that they are resistant to staining and can be designed to appear as any known shade of white to sync up with your smile. This flexibility also means that veneers are a valid replacement if a dental filling grows old or becomes broken. Lastly, veneers are rather temperature-resistant and could be the perfect protection for real teeth that flare up with pain when eating or drinking anything extremely hot or cold.

Real Teeth

Real human teeth are susceptible to staining from strong substances like tobacco, coffee, and tea and can also turn yellow from poor hygiene practices. The outer layer of the tooth is known as enamel and is the hardest substance found within the human body. Despite its incredible durability, due to being 96% mineral, dental enamel is not indestructible; when this enamel is eroded from tooth decay, acid, or even trauma, it cannot be regrown by the body and requires dental intervention to fill in the gaps.

Porcelain Teeth Vs. Real Teeth: Upkeep

Veneers

Veneers have a lifespan of 7 to 15 years and this broad window is greatly influenced by how well the owner cares for their smile. By keeping up good oral hygiene practices like visiting the dentist every six months, brushing twice daily for two minutes, flossing daily, and favoring toothpaste that contains fluoride, someone with veneers can weigh the window closer to the 15-year ceiling than the floor of 7 years.

Real Teeth

When discussing the upkeep of porcelain teeth vs. real teeth, the only distinction with real teeth is that they require additional effort to remove dental staining. People who happen to enjoy foods or certain habits that contribute to stained teeth may need to supplement their good dental hygiene habits with teeth whitening products.

Ending the Debate Between Porcelain Teeth vs Real Teeth

While our teeth are certainly resilient parts of the human body, they are not indestructible. Even though some teeth, namely the primaries, are intended to be lost with time, the loss of even a portion of our permanent teeth necessitates a suitable replacement for these incredibly durable body parts. With all of the advances and innovations in the field of dental technologies, veneers are a perfectly valid substitute for real teeth with barely any loss in a person’s ability to bite or preserve the state of their smile. Porcelain veneers may not last as long as real teeth they can last well over a decade within the mouth of someone who takes good care of their smile, with the added benefit of being more resistant to staining and extremes in temperature.

Whether you may have any further concerns about porcelain veneers or you are feeling more confident about having some implanted as a means of keeping your smile at its optimal appearance and functionality, do not hesitate to contact Southland Dental Care, at your earliest convenience, for a consultation.

Published On: February 12th, 2023 / Categories: Cosmetic Dentistry, Uncategorized /