Dentists are very weary of removing or altering healthy tooth material. This is why it can be quite a shock and a surprise to find out that there are certain dental procedures that require the teeth to be shaped or changed in some relatively minor matter. All of these procedures have very good reasons why the teeth need to be altered, even if they are healthy, and we will be going over some of them in this article. So if you got a treatment plan that requires some healthy teeth to be altered, do not panic! Here are the reasons why.
If you are getting a dental crown, you may be shocked to find out that once the unhealthy bits are removed, even more, healthy tooth material will also be lost. This is because the tooth stumped needs to be shaped with an aesthetic shoulder, which means some healthy tooth material will be removed so that the crown can go on better and not fall off. But that is not the most surprising thing. Most crown work will require the teeth next to the tooth getting crowned to also have a bit removed from them. This is because many times dental crowns are anchored to the adjacent teeth with little caps that go on the teeth next to the one being crowned. This procedure will require the loss of some healthy tooth material.
Although not a medically necessary dental procedure, veneers also require your teeth to be shaped. Dental veneers work on the basis that you have a thin porcelain layer that looks like the smile you want adhered to the teeth you have. This requires the tooth surfaces to be changed so that the veneers can go on easily, and it also requires the teeth to be shaped so that they do not hang outside of the veneers that are placed on. It is important to know that because of this fact, dental veneers are forever and once you get them, you will need to keep getting them.
