Categories: Dental Blog

How Do Veneers Affect Your Oral Hygiene?

Dental veneers are a cosmetic dentistry procedure that involves permanently bonding very thin pieces of porcelain on top of your natural teeth. Once you have dental veneers, there are some aspects of your oral care regimen that will need to change, and others that will not.

Will My Oral Hygiene Routine Need to Change Once I Have Dental Veneers?

Your oral care routine will remain the same before and after you have a dental veneer procedure done. You should make sure to continue to brush your teeth at least twice every day, use a fluoridated toothpaste, and floss daily, the same as you did before getting veneers. Although your veneers do cover your natural teeth, your natural teeth can still experience dental issues and decay if you don’t maintain your oral hygiene regimen.

While your oral care routine will not change, you will likely need to alter your choice in toothbrush. You may need to get a new toothbrush to avoid damaging your new veneers. If you prefer to use a manual toothbrush, choose one with soft bristles. Soft bristle manual toothbrushes are just as effective at removing plaque as medium or firm bristle brushes, but the softer bristles are less likely to damage your veneers.

Can I Use Regular Toothpaste On My Dental Veneers?

There are many types of toothpaste that include abrasive ingredients. These are meant to help people remove plaque and polish out any surface stains on their teeth. Once you have dental veneers, you will want to avoid using any highly-abrasive toothpastes. Porcelain, unlike tooth enamel, is very hard, nonporous, and extremely dense. Brushing your porcelain dental veneers repeatedly with an abrasive toothpaste can cause damage to the porcelain and result in it losing its shine.

In addition to the loss of luster your veneers will experience, abrasive toothpaste can also impact the dental adhesive used to bond your veneers to your teeth, wearing the adhesive down over time.

After your dental veneers procedure, find a non-abrasive toothpaste so that you can keep your veneers intact and shiny. Avoid any toothpaste with baking soda as an ingredient.

Will I Still Need to Go to the Dentist After I Have Dental Veneers?

Even though you have pretty shiny new dental veneers on top of your natural teeth, you are maintaining your regular oral hygiene routine of brushing and flossing, and you are using a non-abrasive toothpaste, you will still need to visit the dentist regularly. Don’t skip your six-month teeth cleaning and oral exam. These regular dentist appointments are important for removing any tartar and plaque build-up, and will make sure that you are not having any problems with your new veneers.

The dental hygienist should be trained in how to care for veneers, as the regular polishing paste will be too abrasive. Some of the tools, such as the scaler, can chip the porcelain of your veneers if the hygienist isn’t careful.

Once you have dental veneers, you will need to pay close attention to the toothbrush and toothpaste you use, as well as choosing a dental hygienist who specializes in veneer care, in order to avoid damaging your veneers. Other than these precautions, your oral care routine will not need to change after getting veneers.