Temporary veneer keeps falling off, is this ok?

[costafortunum]

I am paying £700 for a porcelain veneer on my first bicuspid due to grey staining caused by an amalgam filling. I had the veneer prep done (shaped down to a stump that looks even more grey than before) 9 days ago and temporary veneer put on top. My permanent veneer is not ready until next Wednesday which will be 2 weeks.

The temporary veneer has fallen off three times now. I’ve had it put back on, replaced (because I chewed it up with a mouthful of food and I swallowed it 🤢) and today it’s come off again when I was cleaning my teeth. I pushed it back in place as instructed but when I ate my breakfast (a deliberately soft breakfast of scrambled eggs!) it came off again and got chewed up and mostly swallowed again.

I rang the dentist and they said not to worry about it, my dentist isn’t in until Wednesday anyway. Is this ok? I’m scared that I’m going to get bad sensitivity and pain over the bank holiday, plus I’m going out tonight and I have an unsightly grey stump.

I did question why it takes two weeks to make a veneer and they said something about that’s how long the lab takes ‘plus the courier time’ but really, in the days of same day delivery with a lot of things, I think this length of time with an unreliable temporary veneer is unreasonable, especially for the price.

What do you think? And should I insist one of the other dentists fits me with a new temporary or just grin (well maybe smile with my mouth closed) and bear it until Wednesday?

In order to make a veneer an impression is taken and sent to the laboratory, most labs may have a delivery driver to pick up jobs, some have to be sent by courier or post.

Plaster of two types is is then poured into the mould, one hard around the tooth and a softer plaster as the base , with pins around the preparation. When the plaster has completely set the tooth or teeth , in plaster are sawed out and then trimmed. The models of top and bottom teeth are then set up in a special frame (articulatior ) to duplicate the bite , and time for this plaster to set is allowed.The preparation is then painted with a thin layer of separating paint to provide space for the glue .

A base layer of porcelain, zirconium or lithium silicate is then made . This might be built up by hand or the model may be scanned and the base layer machine milled.

The really delicate work then starts with the next layers built up by hand and fired in a kiln. The veneer is then polished and trimmed and finally any extra colourations done , the veneer is glazed and fired again.

All of this is done by hand by very skilled technicians and involves hours of work , hours of firing etc. A quality job cannot be done in a day although a very basic machine milled , monoblock , one colour veneer can be produced.

So yes expected one day turn around is unreasonable and two weeks is standard for most jobs .

Temporary veneers are a nightmare as you can’t glue them in properly , otherwise they won’t come off and the permanent veneer won’t fit well , as they are made very accurately . Particularly on teeth towards the back they don’t tend to stay on as there is much less tooth to bond to and much higher bite strain. Most dentists wouldn’t bother putting a temporary on a back veneer as sensitivity is normally not too much of a problem and it’s difficult to get them to stay put.

Two weeks is nothing. I have to wait until November to get the implant in one of my front teeth. Tooth removal and implantation of bone just done and gum stitched up, wait for it to heal, have implant screw in August, wait for it to heal, final crown in November.
I shan't be smiling at anyone for the rest of this year.

@Lollygagglethankyou for that detailed info, I had no idea it was so complicated!

@Gettingbysomehow I’m sorry to hear that ☹️ I feel bad for complaining about two weeks now (and I bet you’re paying a lot more than £700 for all that)

Well my lovely implant clinic only charges me £1200 per implant. I have to drive 4 hours to get there but its worth it. They are brilliant. They have their own lab so things like veneers they can do much cheaper and in less than two weeks normally. The only drawback is I live in Somerset and they are in the south east so its a 4 hour drive.

@costafortunum I could be wrong but I think if something like that happened to me my dentist would ask me to come in straight away.

As I say, I may be wrong

I'm having a lot of work done at the moment - essential due to teeth grinding damaging my teeth - so I've actually physically been to the lab. My dentist wanted them to see my teeth! But it was a good experience for me to find out exactly what they were doing and it's amazing how much work goes into it very impressive

I totally accept two weeks for the making of the permanent thing, that's fine.

But I thought there was an infection risk and and it must feel horribly sensitive.

They should've at least recemented it back in for you surely? It's meant to be a temporary cosmetic solution so I presume you've paid some money for it. It should last the bulk of the time that it's meant to.

@Gettingbysomehow were you offered a flipper tooth or anything?

I've got one in at the moment - currently have the flipper tooth and a temporary bridge, I'm finding that a nightmare.

Yes but I just cant stand it. Because its the upper jaw it has to go on a plate and I cant talk or eat properly with the plate in.

@Gettingbysomehow but you have been given one? Mine cost £700.

when you say plate, do you mean the pink gum part?

you have my sympathy. It really brought me down for the first few weeks.

I was convinced I was speaking with a lisp at first But I recorded myself and realised I wasn't

I mean, other people told me I wasn't, but I didn't believe them. It was only when I listened to the recording that I realised it was actually fine.

it gave me a headache for about a month - the dentist thinks that that's more likely to be the extraction that causes the headache.

I take it out when I'm eating at home and I try not to eat outside.

between having two teeth that are basically cement on one side and the flipper on the other side, eating is hugely challenging.

Yes the pink gum part. I hate it. I just cant wear it. I dont know how snyone manages dentures. I had to pay £200 for it.

@Gettingbysomehow now I'm wondering about the price of mine

When I looked it up 700 seems like a pretty normal price

I wonder if you got it cheaper because it's part of your treatment that you're having for the implant.

I spent the first six weeks saying I don't know how anyone manages this. Maybe you'll find it improves, I hope so.

This particular clinic is very cheap. They have principles and do a lot of charity work. They are implant specialists and have their own lab on the premises so they can keep costs down. I have a few of their implants that have lasted 20 years now and are still good.

Would you mind sharing their name please?