I had 10 upper porcelain veneers applied in December of last year (about 6 months ago). Since then and at different times a total of 4 teeth have broken. First my left canine, then the tooth to the right of my right canine, then my right canine and now the fifth on the right. My dentist thinks that I must be grinding my teeth at night and that is what is causing the problems. I don’t think so anymore. I never did because there is no indication if it that anyone is aware of. No grinding sound at night, no mussel tiredness in the morning, no one has ever seen or heard my grind…….in essence, no indication of it other then my dentist saying it must be the case. I now believe it is caused by either the bonding or the lab that made them is at fault. Can you help me figure this out. Thank you, Mark from California
Mark,
It’s hard for me to tell, from a distance, what the problem is with your porcelain veneers, but I can help by giving some insights.
First, patients are not always aware of whether or not they grind their teeth at night. It may not necessarily be grinding, but could be nighttime clenching. Having said that, you can still have porcelain veneers with nighttime grinding, and the dentist can work around that, if they know what they are doing. Worst case scenario would be that you would need to wear a nightguard.
If that isn’t what is causing the problem, yes, it could be that your porcelain veneers simply aren’t bonded on properly. You say four teeth have broken. I don’t know if that means that the porcelain veneer has fallen off, or if the porcelain veneer has chipped or cracked, or if the actual tooth has broken. Usually, if it isn’t properly bonded, the entire porcelain veneer will fall off. Or it will crack and maybe half will come off. If the veneer has chipped and more than, say, 80% of it is still attached to the tooth, then it isn’t likely to be a bonding failure.
I hope this is helpful.