The dentist will need to take an impression of the teeth that have been prepared for the porcelain veneers. This impression will then be sent to a dental laboratory where it will be filled with plaster so to create a three-dimensional replica of the patient's teeth. A dental laboratory technician will then use this plaster cast when they fabricate the porcelain veneers.
The process of making a dental impression is straightforward enough. The dentist will first dry off the patient's teeth (by way of blowing air on them) and then squirt impression paste on and around each tooth that has been prepared for a porcelain veneer.
Next they will squish a tray holding yet more impression material up over the teeth and hold this tray in place for a few minutes until both portions of impression material have set and become fused. The tray and impression material are then removed from the patient's mouth as a single unit. This impression is then sent to the dental laboratory technician who will use it to create a plaster mold of the patient.
The dentist will need to insure that the impression not only details every portion of each tooth that has been prepared for a porcelain veneer but also at least a small amount of the tooth structure that lies beyond the actual veneer preparations. It can be tricky for a dentist capture all of these aspects in the impression, especially in those cases where the veneer preparations end right at or even below the gum line.
As an aid a dentist will sometimes place "retraction cord" before they take an impression. Retraction cord is a small diameter string that is tucked into the crevice that exists between a tooth and its gums. The net effect is that the gums are pushed back away from the tooth to a small degree. Then, right before the dentist starts the process of taking the impression, they will remove this retraction cord. The idea is that there will be a memory effect with the gums and they will stay back long enough for the impression paste to flow freely into this crevice, thus helping to insure that the impression will create a copy of all needed tooth surfaces.
When the porcelain veneers are fabricated the dental laboratory technician will need to evaluate the patient's bite so they can create the veneers in a fashion that is in harmony with it. This means that the dentist will need to take an impression of both the patient's upper and lower teeth, even though just upper or else just lower porcelain veneers are being made.
It will take the dental laboratory technician some time to create the porcelain veneers. A common time frame that is allowed for the fabrication process is two weeks. The specific amount of time required for the creation of your dental veneers will simply depend upon the advance arrangements that have been made between your dentist and the dental laboratory. This is an important question to ask your dentist during your initial consultation appointment so you know what to expect in advance.
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