3 Reasons To Choose Dental Veneers Instead Of Crowns

Both dental veneers and crowns can improve the appearance of your smile if you have imperfections in your teeth. If you're interested in purely cosmetic improvements to the look of your teeth, then you may be able to choose between the two procedures. Take a look at some reasons why veneers might be the right choice for your mouth:

Lower Cost

Most dental insurances don't pay for veneers, and they only pay for crowns if they're medically necessary, so you're on your own when it comes to paying for cosmetic improvements to your teeth. The prices for crowns can vary more widely than the cost of veneers, and traditional crowns can run as high as $3100 per tooth.

Veneers, on the other hand, have more stable pricing, which can help you budget for the procedure. Ordinary veneers range between $500 and $1100. If you opt for brand name veneers, you can expect to pay between $700 and $1300.

Preserves More Healthy Tooth

When a dentist prepares your teeth for crowns, he or she does so by filing the tooth down to just a small fraction of its original size. Crowns cover the whole surface of what remains of your tooth, so it's necessary to greatly reduce the amount of real tooth that you have left so that the crowns fit properly inside of your mouth.

Veneers are applied over the surface of your tooth. The dentist still has to remove some of your enamel in order for the veneers to fit properly and blend in, but it's a much smaller amount.

When you're making cosmetic improvements to basically healthy teeth, it's usually advisable to preserve as much of your original enamel as possible. This can help prevent infections and pain from exposed nerves. Therefore, veneers are a healthier choice for your healthy teeth than crowns are.

More Natural Appearance

Ideally, your dental work should result in the appearance of healthy, natural looking teeth regardless of what procedure you choose to have done. But in practice, veneers often appear more natural than crowns.

This is because of the thickness of the material used to create crowns and veneers. Both may use porcelain, but porcelain veneers are thinner and somewhat translucent, which is a better imitation of the top layer of enamel on natural teeth.

Only you and your dentist can determine which cosmetic tooth enhancement is right for your teeth. Ask about the pros and cons of veneers for your particular situation to find out if they are the right choice for you. To learn more, contact a company such as The Center For Progressive Dentistry.