Last week I completed the process of getting prepless porcelain veneers on my front four teeth. I am actually pretty excited to share my porcelain veneer journey, although some people might think “oh my gosh why is she telling the world she had work done?!!?!” but in all honesty, I’ve been an open book about many things and I don’t plan on closing the book anytime soon. I did a TON of research before moving forward with the procedure, and thanks to many of my fellow YouTubers, I felt much more prepared and confident in moving forward. If I can help just one person make a more educated decision, I have accomplished what I came here to do. Please keep negative comments to yourself and let me know if you have any questions about the process! I’m happy to help!
Research, Research, Research!!!
Before getting started, I created a profile with Real Self. This site has all things cosmetic surgery/procedures and I spent hours looking at different photos, reviews and stories. I also spent a good amount of time watching fellow Youtubers share their journey! This helped me feel more educated on my decision and more confident in what I was about to do to my face. Here’s a good one. && Here’s another good one!
Find The Right Doctor
I only went to two consultation appointments, both with doctors who had years of experience of cosmetic dentistry under their belt. It’s important to ask what kinds of cosmetic dentistry they enjoy the most and request a photo album of what their patients look like after. Another great place to check is their website to see their smile gallery. Every good cosmetic dentist has one. If they don’t, don’t go there. Once they meet the criteria, it’s important you connect with your doctor. I felt the second one that I saw was more friendly and spent more time answering my questions. I didn’t feel rushed. I didn’t feel like another number in their book. It was very important to me that the doctor I chose was receptive to my needs and cared about how I felt with the result. Dr. Martin in Grapevine is a wonderful cosmetic dentist – check out his information here.
Understanding The Prepless Porcelain Veneers Process
I went to a total of 4 appointments for this procedure:
- Consultation – this is quick, but also important as this appointment will make or break your decision on whether you want to move forward with your doctor or not.
- Minimal Veneer Prep & Laser Gum Contouring – since the veneers are prepless, the doctor only took off a very thin layer of enamal off my teeth for impressions. He sent the impressions off to the lab where my teeth would be made. There are no temporaries needed with prepless venee He also used a laser to remove a bit of excess gum I had mostly over my laterals, and a tiny bit off the two front teeth. I had an accident when I was 8 riding my bike that injured and pushed down my gums. I’ve always been self conscious about them but this step is not necessary for prepless veneers.
- Porcelain Veneer Application – this appointment takes about 3 hours. The doctor bonds on the veneers and does some shaping up.
- Shape Touch Up – after my application appointment, I still felt the teeth appeared too square and bulky. I went back to Dr. Martin’s office the next day. He stayed after hours to help shave down the teeth to get them to the size and shape I desired. I was very lucky in my choice of doctor.
Overall, the experience was pretty simple and now I feel so much more confident when I smile. My situation before wasn’t too bad, but I was self conscious about my chipped tooth and misplaced lateral. I would definitely recommend this procedure to anyone looking to improve their smile, bringing it to perfection. Thank you Dr. Martin for the transformation!