Traditional veneers can transform your smile, hiding a wide variety of issues and boosting your confidence. But while they can do a lot, they have limitations too. If you have concerns about your alignment, you might wonder: can veneers fix my crooked teeth?
The answer isn’t a simple yes or a no. In this article, we’ll investigate the details to help you understand what veneers can do for crooked teeth and if they might be a good fit for you.
Table of Contents
What Are Veneers?
Veneers are wafer-thin shells made specifically for individual teeth. They hide many imperfections while also strengthening each tooth. Most veneers take 2–3 office visits for planning and placement. Plus, they require the dentist to shave down the enamel for an accurate fit.
Considered a cosmetic treatment, veneers are meant to present the facade of a more attractive smile. They look like natural teeth, making them hard to detect. Just remember that if your concerns impact your oral health, you’ll need a more comprehensive treatment.
There are three main types of traditional veneers: porcelain, ceramic, and composite.
- Porcelain Veneers: These are the strongest veneers available, lasting as long as 20 years before you need to replace them. They are also the most expensive, costing as much as $2,500 per tooth.
- Ceramic Veneers: Slightly weaker than porcelain, they require less tooth prep, allowing you to keep more of your enamel. They are also slightly more affordable, saving you a few hundred dollars per tooth.
- Composite Veneers: Made from resin and other materials, these are the weakest and most affordable veneers. They don’t look quite as natural as ceramic and porcelain veneers and have the shortest lifespan, but require the least prep.
Can Veneers Fix Crooked Teeth?
Veneers can do a lot — but can they fix your crooked teeth? To give an accurate answer, we need to get into the details.
Fixing vs. Hiding
People wanting to improve their smiles might use the terms fixing and hiding interchangeably, but the terms have very different meanings. To fix an issue means to functionally address it. For crooked teeth, this means altering their alignment; something veneers can’t do.
What veneers can do is hide the tooth underneath, presenting a perfected appearance to the world. And when people are strictly looking to boost their smile’s aesthetics, this is as good as actually correcting the problem. The issue with crooked teeth is that even small misalignments often signal a larger underlying issue, and just covering up a crooked tooth or two won’t protect your oral health.
Limitations of Veneers for Crooked Teeth
Since veneers camouflage rather than correct your crooked teeth, they can’t address every misalignment. They work best when you have a single tooth that is slightly crooked or rotated. The more crooked your teeth, the less effective your veneers will be. Minor misalignments are best with veneers since they are quite thin — about 0.5mm thick — and unable to mask larger problems.
An ideal candidate for using veneers to hide crooked teeth should:
- Be willing to replace their veneers periodically for the rest of their life.
- Have a realistic expectation for how much veneers can hide.
- Want to correct just 1–2 crooked teeth.
- Lack severe rotations or other severe misalignments.
- Be in overall good health, without tooth decay or gum disease.
Best Alternatives to Veneers for Crooked Teeth
If veneers aren’t a good match for your crooked teeth, don’t worry — you have other options. There are plenty of other ways you can either hide your crooked teeth or make corrections to your alignment.
Snap-On Veneers
Just like traditional veneers, snap-on veneers hide alignment issues instead of correcting them. However, since they cover most of your teeth with a single piece, they can hide bigger irregularities. These veneers are more delicate and need to be replaced more often than traditional ones, but their prices and ability to cover multiple teeth can make them the better choice.
Learn more in our comprehensive comparison of the best snap-on veneer brands.
Clear Aligners
Most people find it best to correct alignment issues, not mask them, because improper alignment can cause everything from uneven dental wear to jaw joint damage. Clear aligners are a series of plastic trays designed to make incremental dental shifts, gradually correcting your crooked teeth. You can either get them from your dentist or have a remote company deliver them to your home.
In-office aligners like Invisalign cost more, but they involve hands-on care and can address more severe misalignments. At-home aligners don’t require any trips to the dentist and cost a lot less, but can typically only correct mild-to-moderate cases in the front six teeth.
Compare your options in our review of the best clear aligners.
Braces
Braces have been around longer than any other orthodontic treatment, and that’s because they work. They’re incredibly powerful, using metal brackets and wires to correct just about any dental misalignment or bite issue you throw at them.
Some people might not like how they look, and most braces are much more noticeable than clear aligners, but clear or lingual braces offer more discreet alternatives. Like in-office clear aligners, they require regular office visits — and they can be pricey — but they’re a widely accessible, surefire way to correct crooked teeth.
Read our in-depth guide to decide if braces are the right choice for you.
Final Thoughts
The good news is, if you’re bothered by your crooked teeth, you’ve got plenty of ways to fix them. If you’ve got a milder misalignment and want a surface-level solution, veneers can give you a near-instant smile makeover, while severe cases are better suited for orthodontic treatments that physically shift the teeth. Either way, you’ll be flashing your beautiful smile with confidence soon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do veneers require enamel prep?
Veneers should look just like your natural teeth, and this means the teeth with veneers cannot protrude beyond your other teeth. The solution is shaving down the enamel enough that once the veneer is in place, that tooth lines up precisely with those next to it.
What are the risks of getting veneers?
The main risk is getting them and not liking them. Because your dentist permanently alters your enamel, there is no going back once you get veneers.
How often do veneers need to be replaced?
It depends on the material. Porcelain veneers can last up to 20 years, while composite ones rarely make it beyond seven.
Are veneers expensive?
Depending on the material and your dentist’s rates, they can be as much as $2,500 per tooth. If that doesn’t fit your budget, you can ask about payment plans or cheaper veneer options.
What treatment is best for fixing crooked teeth?
Traditional metal braces remain the gold standard, but clear aligners aren’t far behind. In most cases, braces only surpass aligners when addressing tooth rotation or raising and lowering the teeth.
What’s the most budget-friendly option for fixing crooked teeth?
If you are focused on affordability and have a mild-to-moderate misalignment in the front six teeth, at-home aligners are a great choice. If you have a more severe misalignment, look into more affordable in-office treatments like ClearCorrect and SureSmile.
When are veneers not a good option?
If you have active tooth decay, gum disease, a severe misalignment, or you want to address issues in multiple teeth, you either won’t be a candidate or should look into alternative treatments first.
What is the most convenient alternative to veneers?
In the short-term, snap-on veneers are the most convenient. They don’t require daily wear, so you can leave them out on days when you don’t have time to clean them and your teeth after meals. In the long run, aligners are probably the most convenient alternative — once your teeth are in their proper positions, you only need to worry about wearing retainers, typically just at night.
Can veneers stain?
Composite veneers can, but porcelain and ceramic veneers rarely do. If you don’t brush and floss properly, external stains might develop, but your dentist can easily remove them.
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