Floss Getting Caught In My Porcelain Veneers
Posted by Annmarie SanSevero
I had porcelain veneers placed a few weeks ago. I’ve noticed that my floss keeps getting caught on the veneers. I called my dentist and he said that I don’t need to worry about that and it’s completely normal because they go over my teeth. I know I should listen to my dentist but something that has me worried, despite him saying this is normal, is that food and things will get trapped there. Am I worrying over nothing?
Laurie
Dear Laurie,
I’m glad you wrote. You are correct that there is a concern here. Your dentist does not want to redo any work, so he’s blowing you off. Chances are good that if something goes wrong in the future, he’ll blame you for not taking care of your oral health well enough. I’m going to say right off that you are not with the best dentist.
It sounds like you have an overhang. This is a margin irregularity. It happens when your dentist has trouble with the impression taken after he prepared your tooth for the porcelain veneers. This impacts the impression which records the end of the tooth preparation. When that happens, the lab technician has to fill in the blanks. There goal is to mimic that natural contour of the tooth. Without an accurate impression that is impossible, which often results in an overhang, which means there is not a smooth contour of our teeth.
There are two big issues with having an overhang on your dental work. The first one you hit on. It can lead to decay just under the margin. A second issue is that you are at serious risk for gum disease. Left untreated, you can lose your teeth over this. The only way to treat this is to replace the porcelain veneers that have the overhang. I suggest taking this post to your dentist. Though, it will help if you see an expert cosmetic dentist that can verify the overhang.
This blog is brought to you by Franklin, TN Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Christopher Weber.
