Are Veneers and Crowns the Same Thing?

‘A smile is a curve that sets everything straight’

Dentistry has soon turned out to be an important dimension of the cosmetic industry as having a pleasant smile has so much to do with the confidence of an individual in the professional and personal environment, so just like a facelift doing a dentistry makeover has soon turned out to be a trend.

With the lifestyle that an average Canadian lives, 60 % of the kids between the ages of 5-17 have cavities making tooth decay a serious health concern. A variety of reasons like a root canal treatment, strains from the usage of drugs, excessive fluoride and large presence of resin fillings could have discoloured the tooth amongst the adults.

Worn down, chipped or broken, misaligned, unevenly shaped and gap between teeth are some of the common issues that lead one to dentists.

Your visits to the dentist might have had experiences of rounds of X-rays and possibly impressions of your mouth which is imperative in making the treatment through the chemical porcelain. And you must equally familiar with the words Veneer and Crown and most of them tend to have a partial knowledge of these concepts and end up assuming that these treatments are one and the same.

So Let us first understand these two treatments Veneers and Crown –

Veneers consist of laminated porcelain material that replaces the tooth enamel; veneers specifically adhere to the outer surface of the tooth. In the process of implanting the veneer the tooth structure is reduced by one 1 mm. Porcelain Veneers are the best way to cure imperfections like poor colour, contour, shape, chipped teeth and some other bite related problems. They are also a perfect substitute for removing stains from the teeth which are allergic to bleaching.

Crowning on the contrary encompasses a larger portion of your tooth treatment, emanating right from the root, the enamel and down to the tooth, crowning is therefore a much larger treatment that also determines how your tooth is aligned with the other tooth .It solves the purpose of both enlarging the tooth structure in cases where the larger portion of the tooth structure has been lost as well as reducing the density of the tooth by grinding some portion of the tooth.

Materialistically, the biggest difference is the substance (Porcelain) that is used in making the veneer or crown, since the crown is much larger in its coverage in treating the volume of the tooth; it requires at least 2mm of tooth structure thickness.

So Which Treatment is Recommendable and when?

Porcelain Veneers are recommended for minor colour changes for a tooth that is stronger inside, Crowns are recommended for patients who want to change the colour and shape of the teeth, they are often used to rebuild and strengthen the teeth that are badly broken or decayed.

Size of your Pocket

Dental treatment has never been cheap, so is the case today with rising dental concerns and the cosmetic aspect in tooth attractiveness, it has become more expensive. When it comes to Crowns and Veneers, Crowns make you pay more, as much as $200 more in getting yourself treated.

Veneer has fast overtaken Crown as a method of treatment since it is cheap and solves almost the same purpose as Crown, however diagnosing the problem in your tooth alike any other medical treatment should be left to the knowledge and expertise of a medical practitioner. What sort of treatment suits you the best, will depend upon the intensity of decay your tooth has undergone.

It may not be easy for a layman to differentiate between a Porcelain Veneer and Crown for the technicalities involved in it, but with the some basic aspects enumerated above the question to the title seems to have answered.

Keep Smiling!!!