Porcelain Dental Veneers in Asheville, NC

Most people have heard of porcelain veneers. How could you not? Everyone seems to be sporting a dazzling smile from celebrities and movie stars to professionals and performers right next door – all thanks to porcelain veneers! Porcelain veneers from your Clyde dentist can make your teeth look so amazing, your smile can literally stop people in their tracks. Don’t you wish your smile could do that? Well now it can – and you don’t have to travel to a major metropolitan area to find a world-class expert to do it either. Dr. John Highsmith is THE cosmetic dentist to turn to if you live in the Asheville or Clyde area. In fact, patients travel from all over to take advantage of Dr. Highsmith’s skill, training, and experience when it comes to Asheville cosmetic dentistry and especially porcelain veneers.

Why Consider Porcelain Veneers to Perfect Your Smile?

Regardless of where you come from or what language you speak, your smile is an important form of communication. It instantly portrays your personality, self-image, and how you feel about the people you’re with.

What’s more, your smile impacts your health, self-esteem and relationships, both personal and professional. Smiling connects people. it releases feel-good hormones in your own body – and in others! It can even act as a pain reducer. In short, smiling makes you feel good!

And that’s not all. For most people, an appealing smile is an important part of the overall impression a person makes. An American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry® (AACD) survey found:

More than 92% of adults agree that an attractive smile is an important social asset
Nearly as many, close to 88%, say they always remember someone with an especially attractive smile
85% agree that an unattractive smile makes a person less appealing to people of the opposite sex
74% agree that an unattractive smile can hurt a person’s chances for career success

Those are some powerful statistics. And they’re true! Just ask our Asheville cosmetic dentistry patients how their lives changed after porcelain veneers!

If you are unhappy with your smile, contact us for a smile analysis. We have the latest technology and training to strengthen, rebuild, and beautify any smile – even yours!

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Our Most Frequently Asked Questions

We know that deciding on cosmetic dentistry, and especially something as comprehensive as porcelain veneers, can be a little overwhelming. There are so many things to consider. So many dentists claim to be experts in the field. And there are so many options to choose from. Your Asheville cosmetic dentist, Dr. John Highsmith, and his team are here to help. Just give us a call and we would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Even better, schedule a consultation and let us show you what porcelain veneers can do to perfect your smile. In the meantime, here are some of our most frequently asked questions and answers you can count on from Dr. Highsmith.

What are porcelain veneers?

Veneers can totally transform a smile! Dental veneers are thin shells of porcelain that allow your cosmetic dentist to modify the shape and shade of your teeth. Each veneer is placed on your outer tooth surface, on the teeth that show when you smile.

Porcelain veneers improve your smile’s appearance by modifying what people see when you smile. They transform smiles by improving the shape, size, and color of your teeth, and can even close gaps. The hand-sculpted porcelain shell covers only the fronts that you see, and the tongue side of the tooth is untouched. The more of your natural tooth you keep, the stronger your tooth is.

To ensure that your smile looks completely natural, Dr. Highsmith works closely with Kent Decker, CDT, AAACD, the only AACD-Accredited dental technician in North Carolina. He is a ceramic artist recognized for superior and lifelike porcelain teeth.

How many appointments do porcelain veneers require?

Four visits total to the office. Two of those where the real work is done. Here’s the sequence:

Impressions are made of your teeth, and the dental laboratory sculpts a ‘waxup’ in which the teeth shapes are designed and perfected on your teeth model. We make a flexible mold of the perfected teeth. It is used to make ‘provisional’ veneers. The shape is determined in consultation with you, face-to-face so you can communicate what you want to change or modify.
In the chair, the teeth are conservatively prepared and the provisional acrylic veneers are placed on teeth. As artists, we strive to make your temporaries look as close as possible to what we hear you are looking for (and we don’t stop there).
You test-drive your temporary smile for a week, to see how you like your new look. (You wouldn’t buy an expensive dress without trying it on, would you?) Here you can tweak the process before the final veneers are made. Color too light? Too dark? Just right? Too long or short? Too rounded or square? We want to make sure you feel good about your temporaries before the finals are crafted. This is how we prevent surprises at delivery. The laboratory gets final “marching orders” only when you’re sure you like the look.
The final porcelain veneer is tried in for your viewing. We don’t bond your veneers in until you give us a thumbs-up. The veneers are bonded in position using a process that makes them one with the tooth. The newer adhesives are incredibly secure, so with veneers, you can bite and eat whatever you would with natural teeth.

I’ve seen veneers that look like fake Chiclets on people. How do I avoid a bad outcome?

Finding a dentist who does a lot of cosmetic work is very important. An accredited Asheville cosmetic dentist gives you the confidence that you’ll get the result you want. Ask for photographs of the dentist’s patient work, and look for a case similar to yours.

My last dentist said “my teeth look fine and don’t do anything,” but I still don’t like them. What can I do?

If a dentist doesn’t feel he or she can give you what you want, they may simply say ‘nothing can be done,’ instead of referring you to someone who can. You can only see what you know about; and if you’re not trained to do something, you may not even know it can be done. Why not ask us if porcelain veneers can give you the appearance you desire?

My teeth are worn down, they look too short. Can that be fixed?

Absolutely. Vets judge the age of a horse by how ground down their teeth are. No one likes the look of worn-down teeth, and they automatically make you look older. A more youthful smile has teeth of the proper proportions to your face.

It is super-important that your Asheville cosmetic dentist determine why the teeth were wearing down in the first place, so the cause can be corrected at the same time the teeth are fixed. Often the process of wearing down can cause severe TMJ pain, which can generally be corrected by getting back into a proper physiologic bite position.

Can I eat regular food with veneers?

Properly made and applied, porcelain veneers can actually add strength to a tooth. So you can eat whatever you would eat with natural teeth, including apples, corn on the cob, and steak. (Your Asheville cosmetic dentist still frowns on opening chip bags, stripping wires, or opening bottles with your teeth, however.)

How do I take care of veneers?

Same as taking care of teeth, with brushing and flossing. We do recommend that you avoid any very abrasive toothpaste because over years it can take the shine off your teeth or porcelain veneers.

Do veneers stain? Can I drink coffee and tea?

One of the best things about porcelain is that they do not stain. Think of your grandmother’s old porcelain teacups. You wash them out and they’re still white!

How long do veneers last?

A landmark study showed over 95% success over 15 years with veneers placed with conservative prepping. If too much natural tooth structure is removed, then the success rate for these goes down, which is why training is so important in your Asheville cosmetic dentist.

Are veneers as strong as crowns?

A properly-done veneer is actually stronger than a crown since less of the tooth is removed. We lose enamel from our teeth over time, after decades of brushing with an abrasive toothpaste. Veneers have been shown to restore the original strength lost from brushed-away enamel.

Isn’t it time you had the smile of your dreams? Discover the transformative power of porcelain veneers and rediscover the power of your smile!

Asheville Porcelain Veneers

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