Porcelain Veneers

Here at The Dental Room, we’re not about those ‘perfect, pearly whites’ you see on movie screens – most people would agree that they’re not a realistic look. When it comes to aesthetic enhancements for your teeth, natural subtlety and personalisation comes first. We proudly deliver world-class, customised, natural-looking veneers that closely mimic the translucencies and natural inclusions of natural teeth.

Veneers are a practical and realistic move you can make for your teeth. And let’s face it – life happens! Chipped teeth, tooth loss, aging, cracked teeth, and discolouration (more coffee, anyone?): unavoidable situations in most cases. Despite the number of DIY teeth whitening kits and toothpastes out there – none of these seem to do the job as well as porcelain veneers can.

We’re often the dental clinic of choice for naturally appearing porcelain veneers, with a team dedicated to delivering aesthetically-pleasing smile makeovers here in Australia. Our commitment to custom veneers even goes as far as housing our very own master ceramist, for the most seamless experience imaginable. And we keep you close to the process, every step of the way. When you buy a diamond, you should know its source, right?!

So, if you’re considering veneers, rest assured you’re in the right place. Read on to find out more.

 

What are porcelain veneers?

So what are veneers? At their most simple, veneers are wafer thin shells that are permanently bonded to your teeth. Porcelain veneers are suitable for those who are looking to improve the colour, size, shape and width of their smile. Ideally, one’s gums and bone structure should be solid and healthy. A great cosmetic dentist in Australia can do a lot more with veneers in terms of changes to a smile than with any other cosmetic dental treatment.

Veneers can also fix a number of dental issues including chipping, staining, old restorations and fillings, an uneven or narrow smile, spacing problems, crowding, a poor bite and even internal staining from antibiotics or fluorosis.

They can be used to cover just one tooth, or multiple teeth for a more complete look, plus they are versatile enough to be customised to suit both teeth and budget.

The result of a great smile makeover doesn’t just impact how much someone will smile, the physical changes could even appear age-defying! In our 40s and 50s, we start to lose cheek fat and you can get a sunken appearance in the cheeks and lips. We also start to lose vertical height in the face. We can use porcelain veneers to help make the cheeks look fuller and increase the support of the lips and give them a plumpness – which could help make someone’s appearance seem more youthful.

Whatever your needs are, Dr Shawn Rama and the team at The Dental Room are here to close the gap between celebrities, influencers, models, and people like ourselves – as everyone deserves their dream smile.

Book A Smile Consultation

Our step-by-step guide to achieving a naturally beautiful smile

What sets us apart is the environment we create around delivering your best possible naturally inspired smile. From unprecedented access to leading cosmetic dentist, Dr Shawn Rama, and in-house ceramist, Ms Chloe Park, to the exceptional attention you’ll receive, the care, quality and level of customisation we offer our clients is truly one-of-a-kind.

1 / Cosmetic consultation

Your smile journey starts here. At this initial consultation, Dr Shawn and his ceramist Ms Chloe Park will meet with you to discuss your current concerns, desired outcomes, examine your smile, provide recommendations and educate on various treatment options. An estimate of costs for treatment will also be provided.

2 / Records and smile design

Dr Shawn and his ceramist will use 3D scans, moulds, high resolution facial photography and radiographs to study and create your improved smile using facial aesthetic principles. On your next appointment we will show you our recommendations.. These design principles are then carried through into your temporary veneers.

3 / Veneer preparation with trial smile

This is typically a three hour appointment. Dr Shawn prepares your teeth by shaping them slightly. Moulds are taken and temporary veneers are fitted. This temporary smile also called a trial smile allows clients to test drive their new, improved smile.. For your comfort, this process is done under local anaesthetic and is painless.

4 / Ceramist consultation

We encourage all our clients to return two days later to provide feedback on the look of their temporary veneers. At this point, there is opportunity to refine the shapes, lengths and other characteristics to your liking. Adjustments will then be made to the temporary veneers, a copy is taken and Ceramist Ms Chloe Park uses this as a blueprint in creating the final veneers.

5 / Veneer bonding

This is a very exciting half-day appointment where you will leave with your new smile. First, your temporary veneers are removed. We then check your porcelain veneers for accurate fit and you get an opportunity to review your new smile. With a ceramist onsite, we have the unique ability to make any more modifications to fit, shape, translucency and colour immediately to ensure the highest level of health, customisation and satisfaction. Finally, the veneers are permanently bonded. For your comfort, this process is also done under local anaesthetic and is painless.

6 / Review

During this review appointment, Dr Shawn applies any finishing touches to the client’s new smile. It occurs one to two weeks after your veneers are fitted. A nocturnal splint (nightguard) may also be fitted to increase the longevity of your new smile.

7 / 6-month follow up appointment

Veneers, if treated properly, should look and feel great for up to 15 years after their placement. Most clients forget they have them after a month or so because facial muscles adapt to the new teeth and make them look more natural than the day they were put in. We strongly recommend clients see us 6 monthly for preventive treatments to maintain the health of their veneers.

What makes our veneers so special?

At The Dental Room, our custom-made porcelain veneers offer many incredible benefits, making them one of the most sought after procedures available around in Australia. Dr Shawn’s aim is to recreate smiles while simultaneously improving a client’s overall facial appearance and having the end result be simply undetectable. We aim to really change how people think about cosmetic dentistry.

Top 5 reasons why you should choose The Dental Room for veneers in Australia:

#1 Our smiles are bespoke: designed to suit you and only you

Not all veneers are the same. A bespoke smile created by The Dental Room isn’t something you can find anywhere else. It’s the difference between designing the dream home you’ve always wanted vs. buying a display home (no offence if you do own a display home…).

Our process starts with the study of the face, and not the mouth – letting your facial features dictate the smile, not the other way around! Dr Shawn uses various features and landmarks of the face to design a smile to suit each individual. We can customise veneers to hide the tiniest of flaws, protect multiple teeth, or provide you with a whole new smile – it’s all within reach! Every detail of the veneer – the shape, line angles, corners, lengths and colour characteristics are all designed and individualised to suit the facial features. Each veneer is like a precious diamond that needs to be taken care of!

When created and bonded by Dr Shawn and our master ceramist Chloe, porcelain veneers are professionally custom-fitted to suit your lifestyle, including allowing you to eat the food you love. You can comfortably bite into an apple without a worry, though we wouldn’t advise biting lobster shells or beer caps – regardless of whether you have veneers ;). The strong durability of the veneers we provide at The Dental Room are a result of our baking technique and the multiple layers of glazing which seals and protects them. They are completely resistant to stains and discoloration (hello red wine!).

And with proper care, good oral hygiene, and regular dental check ups, porcelain veneers can last upwards of 15 years. Best of all, they also help protect your natural teeth and improve the function and feel of your smile at the same time.

#2 In-house ceramist – exclusively at The Dental Room

Unlike most practices, The Dental Room has its own in-house ceramic dental lab and master ceramist Ms Chloe Park, who works closely with Dr Shawn to deliver the best of the best veneers. There is a scientific component understood by the dentist and the artistic component created by the ceramist, especially when it comes to porcelain veneers. Chloe even sits in on planning sessions with clients from as early as the initial consultation.

Porcelain veneers at The Dental Room offer the highest aesthetic, long-term solution, compared to other methods. Our veneers are carefully designed to camouflage cosmetic dental issues such as chipped teeth, gaps between the teeth, abnormally shaped, discolored or worn down teeth.

#3 So naturally discreet, it can be our secret

The bespoke results of porcelain veneers at The Dental Room are so naturally discreet, it can be our secret if you so wish.

In our pursuit for perfection, we’ve mastered the art of creating porcelain veneers that closely mimic natural teeth. Custom-made and blended ceramic is handcrafted to the finest detail by our in-house master ceramist Chloe Park. This incredible skill includes painting up to ten different shades of white on each tooth to achieve a lustrous, realistic depth.

We also utilise a facially-driven smile design: a unique smile makeover planning technique here at The Dental Room, where individual smiles are created to complement our client’s facial features. A new smile should always enhance your overall facial beauty, not reinvent who you are.

#4 Incredible transformations with The Dental Room

Our veneers are the haute couture for teeth. Carefully fitted. Bespoke. Custom tailored. We’d put them on a runway if we could! The porcelain veneer process is a very technique-sensitive procedure that requires ‘artistic vision’. Any passionate cosmetic or aesthetic dentist will care about the photography of their work, so look closely at any ‘before and afters’ if you can, when considering a clinic for veneers. Make sure you like the style of veneers that they do as each clinic will have their own style. All cosmetic dentistry should be natural and unnoticeable. Take your time to carefully read their customer’s reviews, and gather photos and information. And avoid anyone promising a lot for little money.

It’s your smile and the bespoke process that sets us apart from other cosmetic dentists. Our team (including our ceramist Chloe) will be right by your side from start to finish, ensuring your porcelain veneer journey with us takes off seamlessly from the get go. We will tick off every aspect of your veneer creation, from the accuracy of your tooth dimensions, its degree of translucency, to its unique contours and shape.

Nothing is impossible, and that’s why our clients choose us!

#5 Our process aims to preserve tooth structure

Our cosmetic procedures ensure your experience is completely comfortable and safe. You’ll find that our smile design and planning process works to conserve as much of your natural tooth structure as possible. In fact, 90 percent of the time, Dr Shawn doesn’t need to shave away any more than 0.5 millimeters of the tooth structure – which is only the thickness of your fingernail – in order to achieve all the ‘after’ results you see on this site. This shaving technique creates longer-lasting veneers and helps reduce your sensitivity to hot and cold drinks, not to mention leads to less post-operative complications. 

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Veneers Before & After

 

See Gallery

 

Porcelain vs Composite veneers

Fast cars. Fast fashion. Fast smiles. Unlike some things in life, at The Dental Room, renewing your smile isn’t a fast fix. It’s a carefully-considered and bespoke experience from your very first meeting with us. This is to make sure every detail fits you perfectly – from the materials we use to shape and construct your veneers, your preference, right up to a budget that won’t break the bank.

There are generally two different types of veneers to consider – porcelain and composite. Composite and porcelain are both very different materials with very different procedures and the choice is largely dependent on your preference and budget.

Composite veneers (also referred to as resin veneers and often resin bonding or resin caps ) are made from tooth coloured engineered resin, – the same ones that we use to do ‘white fillings’ with. The dentist usually completes the procedure in a single appointment; where the resin is directly bonded onto teeth to reshape them.

It is a more affordable option (initially) compared to the porcelain versions.We say ‘initially’ because the material requires a fair amount of maintenance. Due to its porous nature, these veneers can stain and discolour quickly and are also prone to chipping. The average longevity of composite veneers is usually about 3 to 5 years – which means they often need regular fixing and that’s where the costs could add up.

Dr Shawn is of the opinion that resin is a great material in certain cases but requires a very talented dentist, perfect hygiene and even then, a fair amount of maintenance. A lot of his work involves replacing resin bonding with porcelain veneers due to the above reasons.

So let’s talk about porcelain.

Porcelain veneers are thin layers of porcelain custom-fit and bonded to your teeth. They tend to be stronger, longer-lasting, and better quality than composite veneers , but the process is a little more involved and also more expensive.

There are two areas in which resin cannot compete with porcelain: durability and aesthetics.

Porcelain is a far stronger material than composite resin. Well-maintained porcelain veneers can last up to 15 years. Porcelain veneers will offer the most natural, tooth-like aesthetics – if done by a good ceramist that is! It is also highly resistant to staining and chipping due to the strength of the material and the glaze that is applied after treatment – like a sealed porcelain benchtop.

The tradeoff for aesthetics and durability is that a small amount of tooth will need to be removed off the surface to be replaced with the veneer. How much is shaved down is dependent on the dentist. Here at The Dental Room, Dr Shawn in 90 – 95% of cases, will only remove 0.2 /0.5mm of a tooth – which is the thickness of a fingernail. In some cases, where there are gaps or the teeth are set back, we may not need to shave tooth structure at all – what we call prepless veneers.

Getting yourself prepared for a long term commitment

Each of these options has its pros and cons; and a decision needs to be made with your goals and budget in mind. And whichever option you choose, we want all our clients to get it right the first time. Do your research by looking at the dentist’s porcelain veneers before and after photos, and make the most of your first professional appointment by talking things through. The best in aesthetic dentistry are always willing to go over the pros and cons with you to help you make the right decision.

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Hollywood vs Natural veneers

Would your style lean towards a set of poker straight, blindingly bright white teeth, also known as the Hollywood smile, or do you lean towards naturally, healthy looking teeth, with a smile, personalised perfectly for you?

It’s important for you to know that each dentist usually has a certain style of veneers that they produce. Some create a more Hollywood look; some create a more natural look; and some in between. There is no right or wrong – different people like different styles – but it is important that you align yourself with the right team so you end up with a result that is to your liking.

How are veneers by Dr Shawn distinctly different?

Dr Shawn Rama feels that the current trends have changed for the better. “The way people see beauty has changed. The big, white teeth – the Hollywood look where they’re thick, white and square is out of fashion,” says Dr Rama. The best smile makeover, in his opinion, is the one which looks most natural, tailored by a true professional, to each of their clients. Cosmetic dentistry is definitely not a one-size-fits-all kind of procedure. “It’s about finding the balance between lifelike and flawless. It should be real, age-appropriate and not just belong, but enhance the face and the personality. So, no two smiles that I do are ever the same,” he explains.

In-House Ceramic Lab

As a client of Dr Shawn’s, you can be assured that each porcelain veneer is handmade and painted with complete detail and to the highest standard by our leading master ceramist, Ms Chloe park.

Chloe is the most recent generation in a long line of dental technicians. Both her father and grandfather were also leading technicians of this incredible art-form in South Korea. Chloe grew up watching her family practice this amazing skill – which is fast becoming a dying art – with a preference these days towards fast dentistry using machine made veneers.

Chloe graduated from The University of Busan, South Korea in 2009 and made the bold move to Melbourne from Korea when she accepted an offer from a leading dental lab in Melbourne. Sharing the same visions as Dr Shawn for naturally inspired veneers, the two have been working together for more than a decade.

How our clients benefit from our in-house lab

An in-house ceramic lab at The Dental Room enables us to provide you with unsurpassed quality and one-of-the kind care and attention during your veneers process. While most ceramists are hidden away in their labs working on teeth moulds and photo references only, Chloe is involved in each client’s smile makeover Australia journey from the very initial consultation. She will continue to be close at hand during every stage of the procedure to ensure consistency, control, and accuracy of every custom tailored tooth: it’s how we make sure your highest expectations are met.

With a master ceramist under the one roof, we do not need to settle for anything less. At the veneer fitting stage, we have the unique ability to make any more modifications to fit, shape, translucency and colour immediately to ensure the highest level of customisation and satisfaction.

Aside from the bespoke design process and personalised care, we’re also able to reduce turnaround times and eliminate unnecessary outsourcing, making our process transparent and far more economical for all our clients.

So for the most seamless smile transformation and to experience unprecedented access between yourself, Dr Shawn and our in-house ceramist, Chloe, contact us today and make time for a comprehensive cosmetic consultation.*

How much do veneers cost?

We do not believe in quick and fast dentistry. The clients who come to us want the absolute best in treatment outcomes. We aim to provide entirely handmade porcelain veneers of the highest quality with complete customisation and lots of love.

At The Dental Room, we offer personalised porcelain veneers packages, which includes:

• Photos, impressions, and digital radiology
• 1-hour in-chair teeth whitening or take-home kit
• Porcelain veneers which are hand crafted at our in-house dental laboratory
• Review appointments

If required, additional treatments such as gum modification may incur additional fees.

The prices of the procedure will depend on each individual’s needs, smile goal and the complexity of each case. This will be advised after the initial consultation* with Dr Shawn.

ZipMoney Interest free payment plans available for eligible clients.

How long do veneers last?

With proper care and regular dental check-ups, porcelain veneers can last an average of 10-15 years before needing to be replaced. Just follow these tips for longer lasting veneers:

• Make sure you visit the dentist at least twice a year
• Follow up with regular scheduled appointments every year to monitor the process (in case of wear, teeth shifting and/or gum recession)
• Brush and floss regularly as bacteria and acid will erode the teeth
• Rinse with a fluoride rinse to help prevent stains and cavities
• Pay extra attention if you have fillings or veneers to prolong the life span

Not from Melbourne?

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Ready for your smile makeover?

Before you decide on repairing your smile with porcelain veneers, we’d like to invite you to come in for a comprehensive cosmetic evaluation* with Dr Shawn Rama and our in-house ceramist Ms Chloe Park.

*A $170 prepayment is required to secure the appointment. For online bookings, please call us on (03) 9857 3988 so payment can be completed over the phone.