Can Children Get Veneers

I worked with teeth for a long time and one question comes up more then you’d think. A worried mom or dad pull me aside or sends me a email. Their kid chipped a front tooth on the playground or has a tooth thats a different color. They heard about veneers and they want to know: “Can my kid get them?” This article is my answer to you. It’s the talk I’d have with you if we was in person. We’ll make it simple and tell you the real deal. You’re worried about your kid’s smile and how they feel about themselfs and that’s normal. When you finish reading this you’ll know for sure why veneers ain’t almost never the answer for kids and you’ll know exactly what the better, safer ways to fix it are.

Article Outline

• So What Are Veneers?
• Why a Kid Might Need Veneers?
• Is Veneers a Good Idea for Kids?
• Why Do Dentists Say No?
• Is There Times a Dentist Says Yes?
• What’s Better Than Veneers for Kids?
• How to Talk to Your Kid About Their Teeth?
• What Does a Dental Lab Do?
• How to Keep Your Kid’s Teeth Safe?
• When is the Right Age for Veneers?

So What Are Veneers?

First off. What are we even talking about? A veneer is not a crown. It’s not a filling. Think of a veneer like a super-thin, special made cover that fits over the front of a tooth. Like a fake fingernail but for your smile. It’s made to change how the tooth look, its color, or its size. Dentists use them to fix things like stains, chips or small gaps.

These covers are usualy made from porcelain, its a kind of ceramic. The stuff is amazing. It looks just like a real tooth. It even catches the light the same way. The whole point of a veneer is to make a perfect looking smile. It’s a fix for how it looks that lasts forever for adults. And that word “forever” is a big one. It’s the big thing to remember for everything we’re about to talk about. Keep it in your head.

Why a Kid Might Need Veneers?

It feels awful when you see it. Your kid comes home from school or a bike ride with a chipped front tooth. It’s a common problem. A fall on the ground, a baseball, or just playing rough can easy damage a permanent tooth that just growed in. All of a sudden your kid feels shy about it. They stop smiling with their mouth open in pictures. You just want to fix it and make them feel good again.

Sometimes the problem isn’t a injury. A kid might have a tooth that has a bad stain, maybe from a medicine they had to take when they was a baby. Or maybe a tooth is the wrong shape or much smaller than the one next to it. These are all good reasons to be worried. As a parent, the first thing you think is to find the best fix. You see famous people with perfect smiles and you hear about veneers. It seems like a fast and easy fix to a problem that’s hurting your kid, in their body and their feelings.

Is Veneers a Good Idea for Kids?

Ima be honest with you. In almost every single case the answer is a big NO. Putting veneers on a kid or a young teen is usualy a bad idea. I know that’s not what a worried parent wants to hear but it’s the truth. Any good dentist will tell you the same thing. It’s not because they want your kid to feel bad about their smile. It’s because they want to keep your kid’s smile safe for later.

Think about it this way. A kid’s mouth is still being built. Their jaw is still growing. Their teeth are still moving around and getting into their final spots. Their gums are changing. Putting a thing that stays forever like a veneer in this changing place is like building a house on shaky ground. It’s just not going to end up good. We need to wait until the “ground” has stopped moving before we build something forever on it.

Why Do Dentists Say No?

This is where we get to the real details. To put on a veneer, a dentist has to get the tooth ready. This means they must shave a little bit off of the real tooth. We’re talking about half a millimeter or so, but it’s a important half a millimeter. Why? Because that part of the tooth dont ever grow back. It’s a one-way street. Once you take it off, it’s gone for good. For a grown up, this is a choice you think about hard. For a kid, it’s a big big deal to make for them.

Here’s the real problem. Let’s say we put a veneer on a 12-year-old’s front tooth. Over the next few years their jaw will grow and their gum line will move. The veneer that was lined up perfect at age 12 will look short and wrong by age 16. There will be a space you can see between the top of the veneer and the new gum line. This looks bad and it can get food and gunk stuck in it, wich can make a cavity. The only way to fix it is to replace the veneer. This means more money, more dentist work, and maybe taking off even more of the real tooth. It makes the kid have to get them replaced again and again for their whole life.

Is There Times a Dentist Says Yes?

Now, even with all that, is there times when its okay? Yes, but they dont happen much. We’re talking about very special cases, usualy with older teenagers. A dentist might think about a veneer for a 17 or 18-year-old whose jaw growth is mostly done. The choice is still made being very careful. This isn’t for a small chip or little stain.

The time its okay is usualy for a really bad case. For example, a teenager might have a front tooth thats dead from a old injury that has turned very dark and won’t get white again. Or they might have a thing called enamel hypoplasia where the tooth enamel didn’t form right, leaving the tooth weak and not a good color. In these special cases, a special kids dentist might decide that one veneer is the best thing to do. But even then they will try every other thing first. This is never a quick or easy choice.

What’s Better Than Veneers for Kids?

Okay so if no veneers, then what? The good news is that there are great, safer ways that dont mess with the tooth so much to fix your kid’s teeth. These are the fixes that dentists say to do every day. They fix the problem now without making a problem for later. Think of them as really good fixes for now that get your kid through their growing years with a smile they feel good about.

Here are the top choices:

• Dental Bonding: This is the number one best thing to do for chipped teeth in kids. A dentist uses a tooth-colored putty stuff called composite resin. They put it right on the tooth and shape it to look like the old tooth. Then they make it hard with a special light. It’s fast, dont hurt, and looks great. Best of all, you dont have to take any of the real tooth away. If it chips again, it’s easy to fix.
• Crowns: If a tooth is broke really bad, a crown might be what it needs. A crown covers the whole tooth, not just the front. It makes the tooth strong and safe. For kids, these are often made of stainless steel for back teeth or a tooth-colored stuff for front teeth. These are supposed to last until the kid is old enough for a fix for when they are all grown up.
• Whitening: For stains, sometimes getting teeth whiten by a professional is a choice for older teens. This should always be done with a dentist watching, as stuff from the store can be too strong for young teeth.
• Orthodontics: If the problem is gaps or crooked teeth, braces or clear aligners are the right tool. They move the teeth into the right spot, which is a better way to fix it for good than trying to cover up gaps with veneers.

How to Talk to Your Kid About Their Teeth?

This part is just as important as the dentist work. How you talk to your kid about their smile can change how they feel about themselfs for years. The main thing is to talk about being healthy, not just looking good. Talk about having “strong teeth” that can chew good and “healthy gums” that don’t hurt. This makes it sound not so bad.

When you talk about a chipped tooth, tell them accidents happen and that the dentist has a cool way to fix it “like a patch for your tooth.” Make them feel better that their smile is wonderful. Let them know that lots of kids get things like bonding or braces and it’s a normal part of growing up. Don’t make a huge deal out of how it looks. If you are calm, they will be calm too. You are their guide and if you treat it as a problem we can fix, they will too.

What Does a Dental Lab Do?

Now if we’re talking about a crown for a kid or a veneer later for a grown up, something important happens in the background. This is where the dental lab comes in. These labs are where real artists do their work. A dentist makes a mold of the tooth and sends it to a lab. The people at the lab are the ones who actualy build the crown or veneer. Their skill is a huge part of how it looks in the end.

A great veneer lab or arch dental lab works real close with the dentist. They use fancy tools and the best stuff to make the new tooth part that fits perfect and looks totaly real. The good-ness of the lab makes a big difference. Some dentists even work with a special china dental lab to get real good skill. While your kid won’t need a veneer for a lot of years, it’s good to know that when the time comes, the teamwork between your dentist and their lab is the way to get something that looks good and lasts a long time.

How to Keep Your Kid’s Teeth Safe?

The best thing is to not need work done at all. Stopping problems before they start is the main thing. Making good habits now is the number one best way to make sure your kid has a healthy smile for life. It’s the best way to fight many common dental diseases and can help them not need big work done to fix how they look later. Good teeth health starts at home and it’s more simple then you think.

Here’s your list for a future of healthy teeth:

• Brushing and Flossing: Make sure they brush two times a day for two minutes and floss one time a day. Do it with them.
• Regular Check-ups: See the dentist every six months for a cleaning and check. This finds small problems before they get big.
• Mouthguards: If your kid plays sports, you gotta get a mouthguard that fits right. It’s a small thing to buy that can stop a big tooth injury.
• Healthy Diet: Don’t have too much sugar stuff like drinks and snacks. Sugar feeds the germs that make cavities. Get them to drink lots of water and eat crunchy fruits and vegetables.

When is the Right Age for Veneers?

So when is the right time? When can you finaly think about veneers as a fix that lasts forever if they need it? Most dentists will tell you to wait until the late teens or early 20s. For girls, that’s often around age 17 or 18. For boys, it can be closer to 21. By then, the jaw is done growing and the teeth and gums are in their final spots.

At this age, the person is also old enough to know what a big deal it is. They can take good care of their veneers, which need good cleaning just like real teeth. They can also make their own choice for themselfs about a forever look-good procedure. It’s worth the wait. It makes sure that when you do get veneers, they will fit perfect, look pretty, and last for a very long time.

Key Things to Remember

• Veneers is for grown ups, not for kids. A kid’s growing jaw makes veneers a bad idea for later.
• When you do it, it’s forever. Getting veneers means taking off real tooth that will never grow back.
• There’s better things to do. Dental bonding is the best fix for most chips and look problems in kids. It’s safe, it works, and it dont hurt the tooth.
• Think about healthy teeth not just pretty teeth. Teach your kid that strong, healthy teeth are the most important thing.
• Stopping problems is the best thing you can do. Good mouth cleaning and regular dentist visits are the best way to keep your kid’s smile safe for life.
• Wait til they old enough. The best age for veneers is the late teens or early 20s after all the growing is done.