Poor Habits That Can Damage Your Porcelain Veneers

Investing in porcelain veneers is a great way to transform your smile. Porcelain veneers can whiten your teeth, change their size and shape, and give you the smile you’ve always wanted. But once you’ve made this investment, you’ll want to do everything you can to protect it.

There are several habits that can damage your porcelain veneers and reduce their lifespan. By avoiding these habits, you can help keep your veneers in good condition and make them last longer. Here are a few things to avoid if you want to make them last:

Smoking

Smoking tobacco or chewing it can damage your porcelain veneers. The composite material used to bond your veneers to your teeth is not stain-resistant, so when you smoke or chew tobacco, it can stain the composite and make the edges of your teeth look yellow or brown.

Smoking tobacco can damage your gums, which can lead to gum disease. Gum disease can cause your gums to recede, leaving a gap between your veneers and your teeth. It can also cause your veneers to fail. To avoid problems, avoid all tobacco products if you have porcelain veneers.

Eating Tough, Chewy, and Staining Foods

Tough Foods

If you have a habit of chewing on ice, you might be causing premature wear and tear on your new porcelain veneers. While they’re made of tough material, they’re not indestructible. A hard substance like ice can cause a chip or breakage eventually. Veneers or not, eating ice is a bad habit that can lead to dental problems.

While tough meats can be harmful to your new porcelain veneers, there are ways to still enjoy them. Tenderize the meat first either through pounding or slow-cooking. You can also opt for tender cuts of meat like ground beef, grilled chicken, or tenderloin when cooking or dining out.

Watch out for French bread, breadsticks, and toasted bread slices if you have porcelain veneers! Their thick, rubbery crusts can damage your veneers if you chew on them with your front teeth.

If you are worried about damaging your porcelain veneers, there are still ways that you can enjoy hard bread. Soak the bread in soups, broths, or a drink to soften it before eating, or remove the hard crust first. If you eat bread regularly, try choosing softer options like dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, or brioche.

It is perfectly fine to enjoy the odd sweet treat with porcelain veneers, there are certain types of desserts that you might want to avoid. Hard candy, for example, can be quite damaging to your veneers if bitten on too hard. This puts them at risk of cracking and breakage, so it’s best to play it safe and steer clear of hard candy altogether.

Chewy Foods

Caramel and taffy are two examples of sticky treats that are best avoided if you have porcelain veneers. The sticky consistency of these desserts can cause them to become lodged in between your veneers, which can be difficult to remove.

Staining Foods

Although porcelain veneers resist stains very well, if you drink coffee, tea or wine regularly, you may notice some discoloration of the bonding material and your natural teeth over time.

If you can’t function without coffee, rinse your mouth afterward and make it a habit to brush your teeth. You might also want to limit your consumption of other pigmented substances such as ketchup, berries, tomatoes, and the like.

Lastly, It is best to limit your alcohol intake if you have porcelain veneers. The alcohol in your drinks can negatively affect the bonding agent used to apply the veneers to your teeth. If you’re a heavy drinker, you might notice that your veneers will loosen up over time.

Teeth as Tools

It is not just hard or sticky foods that you need to be careful with, using your teeth as tools can harm your veneers too. If you need to open something or trim your nails, use scissors or fingernail clippers instead of your teeth. Otherwise, you might pull your veneers loose or damage their appearance, and porcelain veneers aren’t cheap to replace.

Clenching Your Teeth

Bruxism, or clenching and grinding your teeth, is something that usually happens during sleep. It can cause serious damage to your porcelain veneers if you have them. Wearing a night guard may help protect your teeth from bruxism.

However, it is essential to find the root cause of your bruxism and address it before getting porcelain veneers. Otherwise, the constant pressure and force from bruxism can wear down and fracture your porcelain veneers.

Dental Hygiene

Even though porcelain veneers protect your teeth, it is still important to maintain good oral hygiene. It is important to brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss once a day, and visit the dentist every six months for a cleaning.

If you don’t take care of your teeth, you could end up with cavities or gum disease. It’s much harder to fix cavities in teeth with veneers, so it’s important to do everything you can to prevent them. Gum disease can also cause veneers to fall off, so it’s essential to keep up with your dental hygiene.

Key Takeaway

While porcelain veneers are strong and built to last, they’re not invincible. The material is also resistant to staining, but the bonding agent and your natural teeth are not.