I had four porcelain veneers placed on my front teeth. I just had a cleaning where a magnetostrictive ultrasonic cleaner. Within two days, a couple of them were fractured. Was that the cause of the fractures or is something else going on? Is this a common problem? How do I get my veneers back to the way they were?
Ellen
Dear Ellen,
There are two types of ultrasonic scalers.
- piezoelectric
- magnetostrictive
While the magnetorestrictive scaler is more gentle than the piezoelectric, there is a greater chance of damaging the tooth if it is not done with the proper technique. In the hands of a skilled dental hygienist this will cause no damage. However if it is done incorrectly, then, yes, there will be damage to your porcelain veneers.
In order to get a crack or fracture on your veneers, the dentists would have had to hold the tip of the scaler on the surface of your veneer. This is a huge NO. I’m not sure why your hygienist would have done that.
They should bear the responsibility of replacing the veneers that they damaged. Then, in your position, I would not stay in a dental office that does not know how to care for your cosmetic dental work. I’m also a bit concerned that they only did four porcelain veneers.
Most smiles are eight to ten teeth wide. This would mean that you have natural tooth structure that is visible next to your porcelain veneers when you smile. My hope is they at least used teeth whitening on them before placing your veneers. If not, your smile will look weird. It’s not too late to get this done if it wasn’t.
If you are not confident that they can properly replace the damaged veneers, then you can get a refund and go to a more experienced cosmetic dentist of your choice to get it done.
This blog is brought to you by Marietta Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.