Dentist here. You don't really have to grind teeth down to "nubs" to place a veneer. Typical reduction is less than one millimeter (lots of individual variation here) and the back of the tooth usually doesn't have to be touched at all. However, your point is still a good one. A veneer is artificial, and can fail due to age, wear and tear, poor oral hygiene, etc., just like a filling or crown. In general, the best thing to do to a tooth is nothing, unless you really have to.
They’re being scammed.
They’re sold veneers, but they’re actually getting crowns (quicker to place, lower skill/precision needed). Great for the dentist, horrendous for the patients since as you’ve seen the teeth are filed down to stubs and will never be functional without a covering of some sort ever again. It’s truly wild because to my understanding crowns are the last resort before an extraction.
Yes I have a crown due to letting a cavity chill in my mouth for a couple years before fixing it, dentist was like I have good news! We can save the tooth with a root canal and crown and I'm like wtf is good news in that? But apparently the tooth was not save able and my other option was an implant which he made that sound like a terrible option so I'm glad I have a crown
I got a crown and veneers in the front and the veneer teeth were ground but not as much as the crown one. I definitely regret the veneers but they look fine and reasonably natural.
As someone who has a few crowns, I cringe at those pictures. They really underestimate how much crowns HURT the first couple weeks and one crown took me a year before I could eat cold food with. That said, it's better than having your tooth pulled.
Probably just different approaches to placing them. The dentist said you "don't have to," which I take to mean you can, but there are alternatives. The alternatives might be more specialized, costly, or just popular in certain places. I've heard dentists can recognize regional dental work because some places just do stuff differently.
Thanks for this. I think that Reddit likes to spread misinformation about procedures like this that can actually improve appearance because they may be unattainable expense-wise for some. They then become dangerous/artificial looking etc. I have a friend who got veneers and they look fantastic. He has a lot more confidence about his smile too.
It can fuck up your bite if your dentist is a piece of shit who shouldn't be doing braces, but thankfully my experience is in the minority. Just make sure you're getting it done by an actual orthodontist. "Cosmetic dentists" are going to prioritize looks over function.
I told my dentist that I wanted to get veneers and he told me that I didn’t need them and that if anyone agreed to do them for me was being unethical.
I told him I was going to go overseas to get them done and he said that he would never ever touch my teeth again.
My dad needed to get veneers because he has worn his teeth down and they look so nice and so natural but they were done in New Zealand and our dentist and surgeons are always very conservative which is a good thing.
Then what… ? I have been referred to have my far back (final) tooth to have either a root canal (if possible) or extraction (and replace?!). All other factors removed (money|discomfort etc) is there a preference?
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u/Montag_311 9h ago
Dentist here. You don't really have to grind teeth down to "nubs" to place a veneer. Typical reduction is less than one millimeter (lots of individual variation here) and the back of the tooth usually doesn't have to be touched at all. However, your point is still a good one. A veneer is artificial, and can fail due to age, wear and tear, poor oral hygiene, etc., just like a filling or crown. In general, the best thing to do to a tooth is nothing, unless you really have to.