After what felt like a century, July 28th finally arrived and it was time for my permanent veneers to be fitted. My dental disasters in the past left me feeling anxious and I wondered if I'd be truly happy with the final results.
The process to fit the permanent veneers is very similar to the one carried out to fit the temporaries. My dentist explained to me what was going to happen before beginning his work. There was a little bit of drilling and then the temporaries were gently removed. They felt like they clicked off from my natural teeth. I chose not to be anaesthetised for the final fitting process but my dentist reassured me that if I felt any pain during the process he would stop immediately and inject me.
After the removal of the temporaries my natural teeth were prepped and cleaned. This is the first time during the whole 'getting veneers' process that I've flinched. My natural teeth were soooo sensitive to the cold water and it made me worry that my permanent teeth would feel the same way.
After they'd finished air drying my teeth, they then fitted the porcelain veneers over my four front teeth. They didn't use any adhesive this time as they wanted to check I was happy with them before they went ahead and attached them to me permanently. The permanent veneers felt so much thinner than I had imagined and kinda like egg-shells. I was happy with the result so the dentist cleaned and dried my natural teeth again.
My dentist then fitted each veneer one-by-one with a permanent adhesive. This involved a bit of wiggling around to get the veneers at the right angle, and some pushing up and down to get the veneers as close to the gum line as possible for a natural look. The adhesive is then set with a UV light which is, again, a completely painless procedure.
The worst part of the process was creating the gaps. It gives me goosebumps and makes my hairs stick up just thinking about it! They use a material which feels similar to sandpaper to rub between the teeth and create small gaps so you are able to floss. They then make you smile and bite down a lot before filing away at the teeth to correct the bite.
I was shown the finished result and honestly, I felt so relieved. After all these years my stupid fat inflamed gum and rubbish composite were long gone, and had been replaced with new pearly white teeth. The first time I ran my tongue over the veneers I was shocked at how smooth they feel. I had expected them to feel bulky, but they felt thin and neat. Overall, I was really happy with the permanent veneers and impressed that the whole process had been pretty much painless from start to finish.
2 hours later, the whole process was over and I was already able to tuck into a BK bacon double cheeseburger (much to my diets dismay!). I was so surprised that I had no pain or sensitivity, and to date, I haven't had any problems with the permanent veneers. They feel just like my own teeth, and I can eat completely normal. Eating an apple is something I haven't experienced for years, because of the fear of the dreaded composite cracking, and it felt sooooo good to bite into a crunchy red one.
I had always been very conscious of my teeth, and never smiled or posted photos of my teeth before. If any of my friends caught me in the background of a photo with my mouth open I would immediately remove my tag and die of shame. This is a photogra.ph of my teeth with inflamed gums and a gap where the composite had cracked off again...
Here I am with the temporary veneers...
And finally, after all these years (and lots of whinges from Ryan about my silly pouting), lots of smiles!!! :-)
My work was carried out by the owner (Lau Berraondo) of Enhance Dental Spa in Ely, Cambridgeshire. Lau is an experienced cosmetic dentist who specialises in aesthetic dentistry, and he is certainly a perfectionist. I really cannot recommend the team at Enhance enough. The practice is modern throughout and even has a water feature wall, so it feels more like going to a beauty spa than the dentist. The receptionists and dental nurses are all so friendly, and waiting isn't an issue when there is a massive TV on the wall along with drink making facilities.
If you are thinking of getting your teeth done, I strongly recommend you book your free consultation with Enhance sooner rather than later. My only wish is that I got my teeth done sooner! I can't wait to return and get my bottom ones done in the years to come. Thank you Enhance!
