Have you ever heard of getting porcelain veneers with dental implants.
Here’s the back story. I have played hockey all my life. When I was 18, I lost two front teeth. So, I’ve had a dental flipper for over 10 years. Now that I’m an adult and have a real job, I’ve been looking into getting affordable dental implants. I ended up at a cosmetic dentist that supposedly has stellar reviews for cosmetic dentistry. But, he also offers really affordable dental implants.
When I had my initial consultation, he suggested that I also get porcelain veneers done on the two teeth surrounding the two missing front teeth. Is he trying to up-sell me? His story is that everything will match better if I get the porcelain veneers done too. I’m starting to wonder if this is legit. Although my dental flipper wasn’t perfect, it blended in pretty darn well. My previous dentist never mentioned anything about needing porcelain veneers now or in the future. I want to improve my smile. But I don’t have that big of a budget. Do I really need the veneers?
-Ben in Florida
Ben,
Unless you have some other type of cosmetic issue on the teeth that will surround the dental implants, porcelain veneers are not needed. And honestly, if this cosmetic dentist is as good as he sounds, he should be able to make dental implants blend in with your surrounding teeth with no problem. The dental implants should actually look just like your natural teeth. Now, doing beautiful implant dentistry requires a high level of skill and knowledge of restoration materials. But it can be done, if you have the right dentist. Your instincts are correct to be skeptical. It could be an indication that he’s not as good of a cosmetic dentist as he claims to be, or he really is trying to up-sell you.
It may be in your best interest to get a second opinion. Even if you are on the hunt for affordable dental implants, you shouldn’t sacrifice quality. If you end up with substandard dental implants, they will end up costing you significantly more in the long run. Also, if you find the right implant dentist and it’s a bit of a stretch financially, you can ask about payment or financial options. Most implant dentists will have you pay for dental implants in stages. That may be beneficial to you to spread out the payments over time. Don’t let cost be your deciding factor, especially if you are questioning this dentist that wants to do more work. Definitely get another opinion before moving forward.