Veneer Redo: How to Remove Veneers with a Laser Without Tooth Damage

Hello.

I'm Park Jonguk, DDS, MS, director of Dream Dental Clinic near Apgujeong Station.

It would be wonderful if veneers lasted forever,

but after a certain amount of time, redo treatment becomes necessary.

If little tooth structure was removed during the initial treatment,

the burden at redo time would be smaller,

but since not many clinics treat with the concept of no-prep or minimal-prep veneers,

there are quite a few cases where far too much tooth structure has already been removed.

There are quite a few reasons patients end up needing veneer redo treatment.

If the original treatment was done properly, rather than fracture or debonding,

changes in tooth position or gum shape from long-term use

often leave patients less satisfied esthetically, which is the more common reason.

The next most common reasons are fracture and debonding.

Due to bite problems, issues with the veneer itself, impact, and so on,

redo treatment becomes necessary.

Quite a few patients also come back purely for esthetic reasons.

Some had treatment just a month earlier,

but come back for redo treatment because they simply don't like how it looks,

which shows that for a treatment aimed at esthetics, esthetics really is what matters most.

The issue here is

whether the veneer can be removed properly at the time of redo treatment.

This is a patient who had no-prep veneers done at our clinic.

The photo on the right was taken with the veneer placed on just one side.

It was finished naturally and well with no tooth reduction,

but a few years later, another clinic told her she needed the veneers redone, removed them, and made new ones,

and the result was so artificial and clunky-looking that she came to us wanting it redone again.

This is the condition she came back to us in.

Unlike what we do, there was no sense of natural teeth at all —

the teeth looked heavy and awkward to anyone who saw them.

Since this was a case I had originally done with no tooth reduction,

I assumed the tooth would be back to its original state once the veneer was removed.

But as it turned out...

far too much tooth structure had actually been removed.

The veneer had been bonded on so firmly

that the other clinic apparently had a very hard time taking it off.

Of course, compared to the standard amount of reduction for a veneer,

it wasn't a severe amount,

but considering it had originally been a no-prep veneer,

it's still quite a shame.

The reason this much reduction happens

is that many clinics don't know proper veneer removal techniques well.

In fact, there aren't many dentists

who have focused on veneer treatment for nearly 17 years the way I have.

As a result, in terms of experience,

or staying current with the latest related research,

it's hard for many clinics to build real expertise.

The number of dentists who do veneer treatment is already small,

and veneer redo treatment requires even more specialized expertise.

There are two main ways to remove veneers.

The sound you hear most often when you visit a dental clinic

"Whirrr~~~~"

is the sound of the high-speed handpiece.

Using this kind of high-speed rotating instrument

to grind the veneer off

is the most commonly used method.

The problem is that with a well-made veneer,

it's not easy to tell the tooth and the veneer apart,

so it's quite common for tooth structure to be ground away along with the ceramic.

Just like in the case above.

Is there a better method???

Yes — using a laser for removal.

I'll show you a different case now, not the one above.

By using a laser,

rather than breaking the ceramic,

this method melts and removes the adhesive between the tooth and the veneer.

Using a laser this way

makes it possible to minimize damage to the tooth.

Saying there's absolutely no damage to the tooth would honestly be a bit of an exaggeration.

But compared to removal using the high-speed handpiece I mentioned earlier,

I can say it's dramatically less.

The damage that occurs is really minimal — practically negligible, I'd say.

This is something I'll probably be

lecturing on intensively to fellow dentists from late this year into next year.

Up until this year, I hadn't given many lectures because of COVID,

but starting next year, I have a lot of lectures scheduled.

Going back to the earlier case...

After removing the veneer this way,

with tooth damage kept to a minimum,

we carried out the veneer redo to bring back the feel of a natural tooth.

The treatment brought out all of the various characteristics of a natural tooth.

Natural dimension, a deeply felt sense of translucency, the proportions and shape of the tooth, and more —

these are things the one-day method simply can't match,

the ultimate in esthetics that only Dream Dental Clinic can deliver ^^

When it comes to veneer redo treatment,

the laser-based veneer removal method

that minimizes damage to the tooth

is the single most important part of caring for both esthetics and dental health.

Since 2006, Dream Dental Clinic