Porcelain veneers can be used to beautify your teeth in many ways. That includes repairing damage done to your teeth like chipping and wearing.
However, if you want to get porcelain veneers to repair this type of damage, you want to resolve the condition that led to tooth damage in the first place. Otherwise, your veneers will be damaged just like your natural teeth were. This means you want to resolve bite problems and potentially change your lifestyle, because partying hard can be hard on your veneers. Here’s why you might want to reconsider your partying lifestyle after you get porcelain veneers.
Bruxism Risks
The so-called Human Ken Doll woke up recently with his new porcelain veneers sitting on his pillow. He admits that the problem was probably drinking too much, which resulted in him clenching and grinding his teeth (bruxing). This is actually a fairly common problem. People who drink alcohol–especially to excess–are at an elevated risk of bruxism. Bruxism can cause your teeth to clench down with up to 50 times the force required for normal biting and chewing, which can be very destructive to your natural teeth–and your porcelain veneers.
Of course, bruxism isn’t just related to alcohol consumption. There are other lifestyle factors that can contribute to your bruxing, such as excessive caffeine consumption, chewing tobacco use, and smoking.
It’s best to get these habits under control to protect your porcelain veneers, although a night guard can certainly help you keep your pearly whites right where they belong.
Increased Risk of Trauma
The Human Ken Doll also realized upon waking that he’d been mugged by some of the people he was hanging out with. He says they spiked his drink and went through his wallet, taking a lot of his money. However, he was lucky that this was a nonviolent mugging. When people drink excessively, they are more at risk for violence, which may include a mugging, or it may include fights that they initiate. In these situations, your teeth and/or veneers are at risk.
But it doesn’t have to be a violent confrontation that causes trauma to your veneers. It could be something as simple as a fall or even hitting your teeth too hard with a utensil such as a fork. When your coordination is impaired, you are at risk for many types of accidents–even if you don’t get behind the wheel or on your bike, which you shouldn’t.
Tooth Decay and Erosion
Porcelain veneers depend on healthy teeth to support them. If you’re partying hard, you’re probably at increased risk for tooth decay. When people party, increased consumption of food and drink are part of the plan. The more you eat and the longer you spend eating, the more time oral bacteria are being fed, and producing acid to damage your teeth. The veneers themselves are resistant to acid, but your teeth can develop cavities behind or at the edge of the veneers. And speaking of acid, many alcoholic drinks are highly acidic, too, which can lead to erosion.
This damage is made worse if your partying means that you aren’t taking proper care of your teeth by brushing and flossing when you get home.
Protect Your Veneers
If you are unhappy with the appearance of your teeth and you want to have a new, beautiful smile, porcelain veneers can do that for you. But if you want to get the longest life out of your veneers, you have to take care of them, which may mean making lifestyle choices such as ditching the party-hearty lifestyle.
If you would like to learn more about how to make sure your veneers results last, please call (949) 551-5902 today for an appointment with an Orange County cosmetic dentist at Rice Dentistry in Irvine.
