A Case of No-Prep Veneers for Tucked-In Front Teeth

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

No-prep veneers are, in a sense, the pinnacle of veneer treatment.

These days, many patients come to us specifically wanting no-prep veneers.

But since not every case qualifies,

it often takes more explanation than usual.

The basic conditions for no-prep veneers are

The tooth must be small.

The dental alignment must be good.

The tooth must not be protruding or sticking out.

These are the three conditions.

Not that many cases meet all three.

Usually, when orthodontic treatment has pulled the teeth in too far

and left them tucked in,

these turn out to be the best possible cases for no-prep veneers.

Or when there's spacing between the teeth

but the alignment itself is good, that too can be a good candidate for no-prep veneers.

After orthodontic treatment, her teeth looked pulled in too far,

so they barely showed when she spoke or smiled,

and she came to us for veneer treatment.

Since she'd had orthodontics, her alignment was naturally good,

and her teeth were small as well.

In a situation like this, bringing the teeth outward

while making them larger

makes veneers an excellent solution.

We build the post-treatment shape in wax.

Even for no-prep veneers, this process is very important,

because before the tooth is fabricated in ceramic,

we can check the result in advance.

Using the exact tooth shape built in wax,

we make a temporary tooth in resin, right in the mouth,

so we can check the size, shape, and how far it projects.

At this stage, we make adjustments

until the shape is satisfying, and decide on the final form.

Since the gums didn't show when she spoke or smiled,

we decided gum contouring wasn't needed.

We tried the ceramic veneers

in place on the teeth.

As the teeth became larger than the originals,

noticeably more of the tooth now shows when she speaks or smiles.

With the teeth brought out far enough,

the tucked-in look disappears.

The veneer treatment is complete.

The teeth are now more even,

with plenty of three-dimensional depth, keeping a natural feel alive.

Even though they're brighter than her original teeth,

they don't have that opaque, paper-white, artificial look —

the feel is bright, clear, and translucent.

Even a dentist looking closely would have a hard time telling whether it's a veneer or a natural tooth —

that's the beautiful, natural-tooth feel we bring out.

In many cases, no-prep veneers

end up looking like a piece of xylitol gum stuck onto the tooth,

which looks awkward.

Being able to make the ceramic thin

while still giving it a natural-tooth feel is something that only comes from years of experience.

Since 2006, Dream Dental Clinic