Natural Results with No-Prep Veneers at a Cheongdam-dong Dental Clinic

Hello. I'm Park Jonguk, director of Dream Dental Clinic in Cheongdam-dong.

Several times a year, I give lectures to other dentists

on the subject of veneers.

After each lecture, there's a Q&A session.

One question that comes up nearly every year, in nearly every lecture,

is whether no-prep veneers are actually possible.

Even though there are so many dentists,

most of them rarely perform veneer treatment.

Even among my own dentist friends,

more than half say they've never done a single veneer case in 25 years of practice,

and most of the rest do maybe one or two cases a year at most.

That's how much specialized skill it requires,

which is why many patients seek out a Cheongdam-dong dental clinic that does it well.

Unlike ordinary dental treatment,

aesthetics is the single most important factor,

so while the technical side matters,

the artistic side matters a great deal in this treatment too.

No-prep veneers in particular

are something it's fair to say most dentists have never actually done.

So it's no surprise that even among dentists in Cheongdam-dong,

"Is no-prep veneer treatment even possible?"

comes up as a question.

When I'm asked in a lecture whether no-prep veneers are possible, this is how I answer.

"Not every case can be treated with no-prep veneers.

Three conditions are required:

first, the teeth need to be small,

second, the alignment needs to be good,

and third, the teeth need to be in linguoversion, meaning retroclined (in other words, not protruding).

On top of this, it's also possible when there's spacing between the teeth,

though it can be difficult if the tooth color is too dark or there's active decay."

In a way, this is a fairly textbook answer,

but it's also the answer that best captures what defines no-prep veneers.

Let's start with the first condition.

First of all, with no-prep veneers,

the teeth will inevitably end up larger than they currently are.

So if the teeth are already too large now,

the result after no-prep veneers can't look aesthetically good.

Even if the current size is average, a good result is unlikely.

That's why cases with small teeth tend to produce good results after treatment.

Second, the alignment needs to be good.

If no-prep veneers are placed while the alignment is poor,

the treatment will naturally end up reflecting that same poor alignment.

It's not that it's impossible — it just becomes pointless to do.

And the last condition is that the teeth mustn't protrude.

Protruding teeth are difficult to improve with veneers.

The reason is that a great deal of tooth reduction would be needed.

If it's done without any reduction,

the protrusion would only end up worse.

Here too, it becomes pointless to treat this way.

These three conditions are essential,

and beyond that, when there's spacing between the teeth,

no-prep veneers can be possible depending on the situation.

However, when the tooth color is too dark,

an extremely thin ceramic veneer may not be able to cover the color,

so depending on the case, treatment may not make sense.

Now, the case shown in the photo above is one where all these conditions were met.

The teeth were very small,

and the lateral incisor next to the front tooth was an undersized tooth.

Viewed from the side,

the teeth were retroclined.

Since the alignment was good, the teeth were small, and they were retroclined,

every condition for no-prep veneers was met.

Precision wax-up diagnosis is carried out.

Please see the link below for the process.

Before actual treatment begins,

the post-treatment look is previewed using temporary teeth.

These are made directly in the mouth,

reproducing exactly the tooth shape built in wax.

They're made from a material called resin.

The color and translucency of the final result can't be reproduced this way,

but the general shape, volume, and proportion of the teeth can be seen.

Through this process,

once a shape the patient likes has been found and the size and proportion decided,

fabrication of the ceramic veneers begins.

Because these are no-prep veneers,

anesthesia isn't even needed.

The veneers are fabricated

using extremely thin ceramic.

In many no-prep cases,

the feel of a natural tooth isn't properly reproduced.

The no-prep veneers we do

bring out the feel of a natural tooth very well.

Since the teeth are currently small,

they're made large enough to look properly sized.

Any staining on the teeth is also fully covered,

and the teeth become very bright.

As mentioned earlier,

the shape, color, and translucency of the teeth

all capture the look of a natural tooth,

transforming them into bright, beautiful teeth.

The bonding process for the veneer is very important.

The proper procedure and method have to be used,

and a great deal of focus is required throughout the entire process.

Treatment has been completed.

Looking at this photo alone,

these look like remarkably beautiful natural teeth.

With no-prep veneers,

expressing this much variety of tooth beauty

is a genuinely difficult thing to achieve.

Without removing a single bit of tooth structure,

the treatment was completed with natural, beautiful teeth.

Natural beauty

Since 2006, Dream Dental Clinic, Cheongdam-dong