Do I Need to Have Invisalign Before I Can Get Veneers?

I want to revamp my smile a little. I don’t think it really needs serious correction, but my eye tooth is twisted a little and a couple of the others are crooked. I’d also like to have whiter teeth. I’ve been doing a bleaching system at home, but it hasn’t kicked it up to the shade I want yet. Porcelain veneers seem to foot the bill and they can be done quickly, which I really like. My hope was to have some of the no-prep ones done, but my dentist says I have to do Invisalign first. That doesn’t make sense to me. I want the veneers done so I don’t have to go through all that. Is this normal protocol or is he just trying to get me to pay for services that I don’t need?

Thanks,

Ryan

Dear Ryan,

It is a little odd that your dentist wants you to go through Invisalign treatment before you get porcelain veneers. It could be that he’s worried about extreme crowding of your teeth. If that’s the case, Invisalign or some kind of orthodontic treatment would be necessary to improve the health of your gums. (Crowded teeth are harder to clean between, and this often results in gingivitis or inflamed gums.) Because of this, only he can explain why he’s recommending Invisalign first. Cosmetic dentists usually recommend one or the other, so it may be advantageous to have a consultation with one. If nothing else, he’ll be able to confirm what your regular dentist has told you, but if you go forward with treatment, you may prefer to have someone with more experience do the work- especially if your regular dentist doesn’t have a lot of successful cosmetic cases under his belt.

It’s also worth noting that the whitening treatments you can buy in the store are not as potent as the professional-strength kind that you can get from your dentist. Most dentists offer an in-office kind that will give you immediate results and also a take-home kit that’s just as effective, but works over a period of days or weeks. If you opt for Invisalign, you may be satisfied with that and the combination of professional whitening, rather than having to go all-out with porcelain veneers.

This blog is sponsored byElgin dentist, Dr. Steve Sirin.

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