No-Prep Veneers: Possible Only When the Conditions Are Right

Hello, I'm Dr. Park Jonguk, director of Dream Dental Clinic.

Most patients who come in wanting veneer treatment

probably want no-prep veneers.

Some visit the clinic already believing that any reduction at all is unacceptable,

but

in many cases, patients come in thinking in terms of minimal reduction or no reduction.

It would be wonderful

if no-prep veneers were possible in every case,

but in reality, the opposite is true—most cases require some reduction.

No-prep veneers are only possible when specific conditions are met.

1. The teeth must be small

2. The alignment must be good

3. The teeth must not be protruded

Only when all three of these conditions are satisfied

does a no-prep veneer

produce a beautiful result.

It's not common to find a case that meets these conditions exactly.

It's far more common

for some teeth to be no-prep and others to need minor reduction.

A case where the teeth became retroclined after orthodontic treatment

is the best possible case for no-prep veneers.

It's a case that exactly matches the three conditions mentioned above.

The patient came in wanting her short teeth lengthened and her retroclined teeth corrected.

Viewed from the side, you can see the retroclination was quite pronounced.

On top of that, the teeth were fairly small,

and the alignment was good.

The gaps between the teeth were actually an advantage for no-prep veneers.

We analyzed the current condition of the teeth

and diagnosed how they should be changed.

The teeth's width-to-length ratio was around 110%, when about 80% is the average,

showing that the teeth were considerably short.

To lengthen short teeth,

you can lengthen the tooth itself,

but in this case, given the bite issue, combining it with gum contouring was the more suitable approach.

The proportions between the teeth also needed improvement.

Viewed from the front, the canines showed quite a bit,

which needed to be addressed as well.

We checked these improvements

through wax-up precision diagnosis,

and then proceeded with no-prep veneer treatment.

First, we performed gum contouring.

We only went as far as would not compromise gum health.

You can see that the gum contouring alone dramatically improved the tooth proportions.

A week later, the gums had settled.

At this point, we took an impression for the no-prep veneer treatment

and began fabricating the veneers.

We placed the finished veneers on the teeth to check the fit.

You can see the improvement in both the retroclination and the tooth length.

The treatment has been completed.

By making the most of the tooth's three-dimensional form,

we significantly reduced the sense that the teeth looked wide and short.

Although the teeth are now longer,

they're still a bit shorter than average,

but we used the three-dimensional form to minimize that impression.

By giving the teeth a clear, translucent quality,

we preserved the feel of young teeth.

We expressed the natural beauty of the teeth

as fully as possible.

With no-prep veneers,

the result often ends up looking opaque and awkward.

That's because building varied expression

into such thin ceramic is technically very difficult.

Achieving a natural expression matters a great deal.

Natural beauty

Since 2006, Dream Dental Clinic