Shells (veneers), as the name suggests, are prosthetic works that cover one surface of the tooth in order to improve its aesthetics. Unlike crowns, which require a large amount of grinding across all the surfaces of the tooth, shells only requires a veneer on the anterior tooth surface and involves minimal grinding (or none at all!). They can change the shape and colour of teeth, close the space between adjacent teeth, extend the crown, and they can also make small corrections to the position of teeth that do not necessarily require orthodontics –their use are usually aesthetic in nature.
Shells can be made of composite materials or ceramics. Composite shells are applied directly to the tooth, at the clinic, using quality aesthetic fillings. Their biggest advantage is that the appearance of one or more teeth, and the overall smile, can be completely transformed for the patient on just one visit to the clinic. However, over time, such shells tend to change colour due to the “absorption” of pigments from darker coloured foods and beverages.
The ceramic materials used in the dental laboratory for making prosthetic works are wear-resistant (and therefore long-lasting), aesthetically stable (do not change colour) and, in the hands of a skilled technician, faithfully imitate natural dental tissues: combinations and colour transitions, specificity of the tooth surface and greater or lesser transparency as required.
The tooth is ground to a depth of only 0.3 – 0.5 mm, and due to the tighter bonding between the tooth and the shell, it is not necessary to remove all the enamel (which is the hardest dental tissue).
The shells are bonded to the tooth using special cements, which are also colour-matched with the tooth and the shell itself. After cementing, it is extremely important to take care of these shells and perform the same oral hygiene as if they were your own, natural teeth. The space between the teeth with cemented shells must also be cleaned with floss or interdental brushes, and any deposits on the ceramic material of the shell must be removed with a toothbrush.
A good patient of ours, patient A, was not satisfied with the colour or shape of her upper front teeth - we transformed her smile with ceramic shells and two all-ceramic crowns. Which type of replacements are we talking about...? Take a guess!
