Gold Coast smiles provides dental veneers to patients in Glen Cove, NY. Contact us at 516-676-0250 to learn more or schedule an appointment.
Porcelain Veneers - Designed Individually For You
If you have one or more teeth that are crooked, broken, too small, or discolored, then you may feel self-conscious about your smile. Fortunately, our office can offer you a choice of solutions for these problems. One of the most sought after services we provide at Gold Coast Smiles is porcelain veneers. Cosmetic veneers, or laminates, are one of the most effective and natural looking cosmetic dentistry procedures available for an extreme smile makeover. With veneers, you could have an instant whole new smile in as little as two or three visits at Gold Coast Smiles.
The Magic of Porcelain Veneers
Case 1 Before
Case 1 After
teeth before veneers
teeth after veneers
All before/after photos pictured here are actual cases of Dr. Sami’s.
Veneers are tiny, thin, shells of porcelain that cover the front of a tooth and conceal chips, cracks, misalignment, and discoloration. They are indistinguishable from natural teeth, since they are made of multilayered translucent porcelain and custom-designed for each individual patient.
Porcelain veneers are a fantastic way to repair or enhance the appearance of front teeth. They can be used to whiten teeth, close spaces and create a great smile. Using dental veneers, Dr. Andrew Sami can even perform virtually "instant orthodontics" to straighten crooked teeth and give you the bright smile you always wanted.
Crooked teeth can appear straighter; unattractive colors can be hidden; chipped edges can be fixed; gaps can be filled; and teeth can be reshaped, repaired, and restored — all with veneers.
Am I A Candidate For Porcelain Veneers?
Many people spend years, sometimes even a lifetime, hating their smile. They find it difficult to take part in simple every day actives such as smiling for pictures or laughing out loud in the presence of others. We’ve even had patients tell us that their self-consciousness towards their teeth had adversely affected their personalities, being labeled unfriendly because they don’t smile often. If you feel self-conscious about minor imperfections in your teeth such as staining, chips, slightly misaligned or inconsistently spaced teeth, you may be a candidate for porcelain veneers.
Veneers are considered to be a fairly conservative yet very transformative and versatile process that can correct a number of imperfections all at once. These uniquely individualized porcelain facings are able to enhance and improve the color, shape, symmetry and overall appearance of your smile simultaneously. With veneers we are able to accomplish the following, usually in just two visits:
These are just a few examples of situations we can correct with porcelain veneers. Generally speaking, as long as your teeth are in fairly good health, porcelain veneers are a quick, effective and incredibly attractive method to address any cosmetic imperfection in your smile.
If there are more complex concerns involving the state of your teeth, veneers may not be the optimal choice for you. We provide many other types of treatment including Porcelain Crowns, Dental Implants & even Full Mouth Rehabilitation that may be suitable to both address your cosmetic and functional needs.
The Porcelain Veneer Process at Gold Coast Smiles
Step 1: Interview & Consultation
The first step in our porcelain veneer process, or any cosmetic makeover, is to come in for a consultation and discuss your options with Dr. Sami. This is not just an opportunity for us to start building a relationship with you, but it’s also your chance to interview us and for us to show you what's possible. The consultation includes a comprehensive in depth examination, appropriate diagnostic imaging and simple impressions to help evaluate your current condition both esthetically and functionally. The corner stone of our practice philosophy is a dedication to understand what each patient is looking for, rather than dictating to you what we think you may want. We will talk about your objectives while spending the time listening to what you have to say about your current smile as well as your goals and desires. We want to learn what appeals to you and we’ll offer guidance on how we can improve the appearance of your teeth to not only meet your specific goals, but to also conform to the shape and contours of your face and personality. Whether it’s only two porcelain veneers, or an entire full-mouth restoration, we offer custom treatment plans for all scope of treatments. You’ll receive a personalized treatment plan for best achieving your goals and we’ll walk you through the details. At the conclusion of this initial assessment and consultation, Dr. Sami will have created the formula that will give you exactly the smile you want, and more than you might have thought possible!
Step 2: Your Custom Blueprint
Once we've established a cosmetic treatment plan that best suites you, we will proceed to take impressions (models) of your teeth. More often than not, this typically occurs during your initial consultation visit. These models provide us with an accurate depiction of the current state of your teeth and are sent with detailed instructions to our experienced ceramists. Dr. Sami utilizes these models to personally review and improve upon the established treatment plan with his ceramist. We communicate and coordinate with our ceramists every step of the way to give you the results you want.
Once the details of your plan have been discussed and communicated, the ceramist will mount your models on a device that simulates the movement of your jaw. Wax will then be placed on the teeth and hand sculpted to the anticipated end result to mimic how the veneers will actually look like on your teeth. This diagnostic wax up is our blueprint to ensure the restorations will not only look as you envision them, but will also function properly in your mouth. We are not only concerned about your smile looking fantastic, but we also want our results to be long lasting.
This blueprint wax up serves two critical purposes:
1) It allows you and Dr. Sami to preview the end result BEFORE we ever start any work in your mouth. This way we can ensure all of our patients are comfortable and confident moving forward with the treatment and you don't have to leave anything up to the imagination.
2) The wax up also provides a template from which we will design your temporary veneers. By formulating an accurate diagnostic wax up of your cosmetic treatment plan, we can ensure that your temporaries will also look beautiful and they will allow you to test drive your new smile between visits.
Step 3: Preparation Appointment & Temporaries
Once the wax up has been created and approved, we're ready to proceed with the actual dental procedure. This appointment involves preparing and contouring the teeth, ensuring that we are employing as much of a conservative approach as possible. We will first anesthetize (numb) your teeth to ensure maximum comfort throughout treatment, and then will proceed to preparing the teeth according to our preliminary consultations and wax up blueprint. Dr. Sami will establish proper contouring of the teeth that will enable optimal aesthetic results while conserving as much natural tooth structure as possible. Once the teeth have been adequately prepared according to plan, impressions will be taken of the prepared teeth to create models on which the actual veneers are made.
Once the teeth have been appropriately contoured and prepared according to your cosmetic plan, we will fit you with temporary veneers that have been created from your diagnostic wax up. The wax up is our road map and the temporaries are your dress rehearsal before receiving the real thing.
Aside from providing you with a cosmetically pleasing restoration to wear between visits, the temporaries give us the opportunity to make modifications to our designs whether cosmetic or functional. We can critique the temporaries in your mouth and make adjustments regarding the length size or shape of the teeth accordingly. You will have an active involvement and opportunity in identifying those changes as we move towards fabricating your permanent porcelain veneers with our ceramist. You can expect to wear the temporaries for about 2 weeks, giving you ample time to consider any alterations you may desire.
Step 4: Delivering Your New Smile
The final step is the placement and permanent bonding of your beautiful new porcelain veneers. At this appointment, we remove the temporaries, and first try in the finished porcelain veneers to make sure they fit and look perfect. You will again have ample time to look over and critique your new restorations to make sure you love the results. We will never proceed to permanently bond anything in place without your seal of approval.
Once you give us the thumbs up, we will then permanently bond the porcelain veneers in place. We will spend time adjusting and equilibrating your bite to ensure the forces are well aligned and you are comfortable. If necessary, we will also take impressions for a protective night guard for bedtime wear.
Custom Natural Appearing Veneers at Gold Coast Smiles
The most common question we get during our cosmetic consultations is will a new smile makeover look real or natural? We find that one of the biggest hesitations patients have in pursuing a long sought after smile makeover is their concern that their new teeth may appear fake. This hesitation stems from the fact that many of us have noticed friends or family members who may have gone through some extensive cosmetic work only to end up with a poor result. Typically, these individuals may have teeth that look opaque, bulky or as many of us have described them, “Chiclet” looking.
Those type of undesirable results are due to the fact that a more antiquated form of dentistry was used utilizing older, more opaque porcelain or in some cases even metal in the form of a porcelain fused to metal crown (a crown made out of metal with porcelain baked over it). This form of old school dentistry resulted in most of the unpleasing outcomes we’ve all witnessed at one point or another.
teeth before veneers
teeth after veneers
Case 4 Before
Case 4 After
All before/after photos pictured here are actual cases of Dr. Sami’s.
The materials we have at our disposal today are technologically much more superior than what was utilized in the past. For starters, at Gold Coast Smiles we never use metal in any of our dental restorations (whether involving veneers, crowns or fillings) and especially not in any of our cosmetically oriented cases such as smile makeovers! Because veneers are made exclusively of porcelain and any crowns we make are metal free, we are able to eliminate any possibility of unsightly dark black lines from appearing at the gum line which is very typical of metal based crowns and older dental restorations.
More importantly, the porcelain systems we utilize today are vastly improved and superior as compared to their previous ancestors. We only employ the highest quality of porcelain such as Emax, Empress and Feldspathic porcelain systems that provide a high degree of natural translucency and thus accurately replicate the appearance of human enamel. Furthermore, our experienced ceramist is able to create veneers that have multiple different shades and translucencies that will result in a much more lifelike appearance. And because today’s veneers are ultra thin, you don’t have to worry about teeth that will appear bulky or stand out.
With Dr. Andrew Sami's years of cosmetic skills and expertise, along with today’s technological advances, we’re able to create veneers that are not only beautiful in their natural appearance, but are also stronger, longer lasting and much more stain resistant, making porcelain veneers the best option for creating natural looking teeth that will provide you years’ worth of smiles.
Porcelain Veneers FAQ
What’s the difference between porcelain veneers and porcelain crowns?
The difference between a porcelain veneer and a porcelain crown is simple.. The veneer is bonded to the front and sides of your natural tooth and a crown encompasses the entire tooth. For teeth that are overall healthy but suffer from minor structural and cosmetic concerns, a porcelain veneer is typically the treatment of choice since it requires less tooth removal than crowns. Porcelain veneers have the ability to dramatically enhance the aesthetic appearance of the teeth while removing minimal structure in the process.
A porcelain crown is the treatment of choice when the tooth has a large number of fillings, is considerably worn and broken down, has decay related problems or we simply have to replace an existing older crown. In addition to providing enhanced cosmetic appeal to the teeth, crowns also provide a considerable amount of structural support that will help prevent possible fracture or breakage of teeth. Although crowns require more preparation of the teeth than do veneers, this is the treatment of choice for teeth that are already prone to or have suffered from significant breakdown and structural defects.
At Gold Coast Smiles, we do not take a one size fits all approach to any of our treatment planning. Whether you’re coming in for veneers, crowns or any other type of treatment, we evaluate each case on an individual basis. We will only recommend options that best address both your cosmetic and functional needs together so we can provide you with the best looking long term results. Our clinical expertise and years of cosmetic experience has enabled us to produce results where no one will ever know the difference between a crown and a veneer when they are side by side.
How long do porcelain veneers last?
Correctly designed and accurately placed porcelain veneers by an experienced cosmetic dentist can last anywhere from 10-20 years. In some cases it may also important to have a custom bite guard fabricated for the patient to account for protection against bite forces that can affect the longevity of the restorations. With proper home care, regular routine dental maintenance and a bite guard, there is no reason why properly designed porcelain veneers can’t last several years.
What is involved in caring for porcelain veneers compared to my normal routine now?
Porcelain veneers made at Gold Coast Smiles will look and feel as natural as your teeth. This means you can brush, floss, and eat all of the foods you love as you would normally would prior to having veneers. Our veneers will not stain as natural teeth would and we have specialized polishing agents that our experienced dental hygienists use when you have your teeth cleaned. Having porcelain veneers placed at Gold Coast Smiles will allow you to do all the things you’d normally do and love without any restrictions or disruptions in your life.
How strong are veneers? Are there restrictions on what I can eat?
Porcelain veneers are very strong. Nevertheless, it is no secret that porcelain is a glass and would be at risk of chipping or cracking if excessive and consistent strong forces are applied to it. While there are really no restrictions on what you can eat, we do caution against excessive snacking of nuts and popcorn as well as excessively sticky and hard candies and sweets. As is the case with any dental restoration, you are also advised against such habits as chewing ice and biting fingernails. These same foods and habits often damage natural teeth, either by causing cavities or fracturing the tooth altogether, and thus have the potential to damage any type of dental restoration placed in the mouth as nothing can be considered indestructible. Common sense caution is typically all that is needed.
Will I need a night guard (or bite guard) if I decide to have veneers done?
If we determine that you are an appropriate candidate for porcelain veneers and identify that you grind or clench your teeth you can certainly expect to have a custom bite guard included in your overall cosmetic plan. Grinding and clenching can eventually damage your veneers just as these habits all result in wearing and grinding down of natural teeth. We will provide you with a custom protective bite guard to wear at night to reduce the stress on your teeth while you sleep.
Why should I have veneers done at Gold Coast Smiles?
While the overall treatment is fairly standard, the skill, art, materials and experience involved can widely differ. Few people realize that there are actually several different porcelain types, each with different characteristics and advantages. Some ceramic materials used for veneers are stronger than others. These may be the material of choice for people who have specific bite criteria we must account for. Other porcelains are more translucent or opaque, allowing for further cosmetic customization and enhancements.
This is where art and science blends together at Gold Coast Smiles. Over the past decade plus, Dr. Andrew Sami has successfully produced and delivered thousands of porcelain veneers and other cosmetic smile enhancements for his patients. Our office is experienced and proven in applying artistic craftsmanship and design with sound scientific oral health guidelines to produce quality long lasting restorations that function and appear natural. At Gold Coast Smiles you will not get a cookie cutter approach to your cosmetic treatment and we will not use a one size fits all porcelain. Instead, the results of your treatment will reflect your natural beauty, facial features and personality to give you a long last smile you can be confident and proud about.
Visit our Patient Testimonial Page to listen about what others have to say about the Gold Coast Smiles dental experience.
How do I know that veneers will look right on me?
With all his cosmetic treatment solutions, Dr. Andrew Sami has formulated an approach that employs a philosophy of envisioning the end result first. Prior to the start of any extensive cosmetic procedure, appropriate consultations will take place that will include models of the teeth. In close coordination with our master ceramist, a personalized treatment plan will be created which will provide us with the details of your treatment. From Dr. Sami’s treatment plan, a diagnostic wax up will then be sculpted over your teeth on the models provided so we can all envision the anticipated end result. This wax up serves as a visual blueprint of how the veneers will look in your mouth.
We will take into account your skin tone, tooth size, tooth shape, tooth color, age, facial features and symmetry when designing the ideal cosmetic enhancement for your teeth. Every element of your treatment is carefully crafted to complement your appearance and make your smile and your new teeth look completely natural and we will provide you with the means to visualize all this before you even schedule an appointment to start the work.
Will porcelain veneers make me look like a different person?
If you’re concerned that veneers are going to make you appear utterly unrecognizable, that will not be the case. What veneers do is transform your smile so that people will wonder what you did to make yourself look so good. Properly designed veneers are truly able to take years off of your appearance. You will look different, but only because your smile will now compliment the rest of your beauty and newfound confidence.
Am I a candidate for porcelain veneers?
If you are unhappy with the esthetic appearance of your teeth due to any variety of cosmetic issues, you may be a perfect candidate for porcelain veneers. In order to be considered an appropriate candidate for porcelain veneers, you must have predominately healthy teeth and gums. That holds true for any type of elective cosmetic procedure we perform at Gold Coast Smiles. If your teeth are primarily healthy but possess a number of cosmetic concerns, you can expect to be a candidate for porcelain veneer treatments.
If you are a patient that suffers from tooth decay, gum disease, infection or severely broken down or worn down teeth, Dr. Sami will prioritize your care to treat these underlying conditions first before moving on to any cosmetic procedure. Under these circumstances, it is also possible that alternative cosmetic treatments, such as Porcelain Crowns, may be considered as a better option over porcelain veneers since crowns would address both the cosmetic and more complex functional needs of teeth that are diseased and extensively broken down.
Are porcelain veneers expensive?
We understand cost is a big concern when it comes to veneers, or any type of cosmetic dental procedure. Typically, veneers are not covered by insurance. Unfortunately, dental insurance will rarely if ever cover any procedure deemed strictly as cosmetic in nature. In many cases, with few exceptions, veneers are considered cosmetic and aren’t covered by insurance.
The cost of high quality veneers at Gold Coast Smiles can be upwards of $1500 per tooth. The cost reflects a number of factors including the materials used, complexity of the case and the level of service and expertise you are receiving that will be reflective in the quality of your care and treatment. Sometimes this can cause sticker shock, but you have to weigh the inherent costs and benefits with choosing a provider who is dedicated to healthy, safe, beneficial and cosmetically beautiful procedures.
With cosmetic dentistry you absolutely get what you pay for. Prospective patients should be cautioned against bargain shopping for quality cosmetic healthcare, or any type of healthcare in general. It’s unfortunate how many times we’ve had to remove and replace defective dental restorations because they’re uncomfortable, not cosmetically pleasing, or just improperly fitting and unhealthy. Additionally, inappropriately designed teeth for dental veneers due to a lack of expertise or training on the part of the dentist can result in the improper removal of tooth structure and other irreversible long term consequences. We believe the old adage is true – you get what you pay for.
Where can I get high quality porcelain veneers around Glen Cove Long Island and its surrounding towns?
If you’re ready to take the next step in transforming your smile, then it’s time to call Gold Coast Smiles and schedule a consultation with Dr. Andrew Sami. Dr. Sami is an expert when it comes to smile design and cosmetic dentistry. He and his Gold Coast Smiles team use cutting edge technology and work with patients from all over Long Island and nearby NYC. You’ll be happy you made the call to transform your smile.
Contact us at 516-676-0250 to schedule an appointment.
