For those who pursue it, cosmetic dental procedures are well worth the investment because they experience a transformation. But getting veneers doesn’t mean your days of diligent oral hygiene are behind you. When it comes to cleaning teeth and preventing cavities, there are three tips you should keep in mind to avoid decay while wearing customized veneers.
Can Veneers Protect Against Decay?
In short, no. Unlike crowns, veneers cover only the front surfaces of teeth, leaving the sides and backside vulnerable and exposed. While dental crowns protect the entire structure, thin veneers act like masks for teeth, which means that decay can still occur behind the ceramic sheath.
Without proper care both at home and with a dentist in Naperville, teeth with veneers can develop cavities. Without treatment, this problem can lead to severe pain and damage and require extensive restorative care like root canal therapy or even tooth extraction.
3 Tips to Avoid Cavities
To ensure that your teeth remain healthy while wearing veneers, you will be expected to maintain your veneers on a daily basis at home as well as with the dentist in their office. They may provide helpful tips and techniques that can make avoiding cavities easier. To preserve your cosmetic results, these are just a few ways you can avoid cavity-causing decay and keep your veneers in excellent condition for as long as possible:
- Implement good oral hygiene habits in your daily routine. Brushing twice and flossing once are the bare minimum requirements, but you can also rinse with an ADA-approved mouthwash. Establishing this routine will help you eliminate bad oral bacteria and wash away harmful particles from the mouth.
- Keep up with regular dental checkups and cleanings. At this appointment, your dentist examines your custom veneers for any signs of decay or damage. If they spot something amiss, proper care can be taken to ensure longer-lasting smiles. Plus, the cleaning stops decay from happening in the future and leaves your teeth and veneers looking their best.
- Stick to healthy foods in your diet that are not high in sugar and starches. Instead of chips, cookies, and other foods that can cause cavities to form and put veneers at serious risk, choose leafy greens, lean meat, low-fat dairy, fruits, and vegetables.
If you want your veneers to endure a long time, you must take care of these restorations and the rest of your teeth. Make sure you work with a cosmetic dentist you can trust and who will help you not only get the veneers but keep them for years to come.
About Grand Dental – Naperville
At Grand Dental – Naperville, we are staffed with experts who take pride in taking care of smiles of all types. Our team offers restorative care to tend to decayed or damaged teeth, but we also help those who want to have more confidence in their smiles with veneers and other cosmetic services. If you are interested in veneers, feel free to make an appointment by visiting our website or call us at 630-904-1000.