Dr. Pooja Guglani

A thin layer of material placed over a tooth to protect its surface or improves its appearance is known as veneer. Dental veneers are a popular treatment for transforming your smile’s overall appearance. Placement of dental veneers can dramatically improve your smile and appearance. Most people believe that veneers are a single treatment when there are actually many types of veneer you can avail.

Types-

Some common types of veneers include—

1. Composite Veneers: Composite veneers are more commonly done. These are adjusted and sculpted during the dentist appointment. Cracked or chipped tooth, small cosmetic problems are usually fixed with composite veneers.

2. Porcelain Veneers: Porcelain veneers are expensive, but the effect they have on your smile is worth every penny. Porcelain veneer treatment involves multiple trips to the dentist’s office. They are stain-resistant and are more durable than other veneers.

Types of Dental Problems That Veneers Fix-

Veneers are routinely used to fix:

1. Teeth that are discolored -- either because of root canal treatment; stains from tetracycline or other drugs, excessive fluoride or other causes; or the presence of large resin fillings that have discolored the tooth
2. Teeth that are worn down
3. Teeth that are chipped or broken
4. Teeth that are misaligned, uneven, or irregularly shaped (for example, have craters or bulges in them)
5. Teeth with gaps between them (to close the space between these teeth)

Advantages-

The advantages of veneers are as follows:

1. They give a natural appearance to your teeth.

2. The tissues of the gum can tolerate porcelain well.

3. Porcelain veneers are resistant to stains.

4. The porcelain colour can be chosen to make dark teeth appear whiter.

5. Veneers offer a traditional approach in transforming the shape and colour of a tooth; they don’t normally require the intensive shaping before the procedure, like dental crowns do.

6. Veneers offer an aesthetic dental substitute.

Diabetes is a chronic, systemic disease and affects all parts of the body. While its effect on the nerves, eyes, kidneys, and skin is more common, their oral effects are less known. However, diabetes will vouch how they lost tooth and have dry mouth after their sugars went out of control.

1. Oral Symptoms in Diabetics: There is a strong correlation between oral health and poorly controlled blood sugars. Some of the common oral indications of diabetes are as follows.
2. Dry Mouth: There is less amount of saliva, which brings with it a whole lot of symptoms including soreness of the mucosa, ulcers, increased chances of infection, gum inflammation and tooth decay.
3. Thrush: The saliva has higher sugar levels and attracts fungus (Candida in particular) which thrives in this dry, sugary environment. This produces a burning sensation in the mouth.
4. Periodontal Disease: The gums get severely infected with gingival recession, where the gum line recedes exposing more of the tooth (tooth length seems to have increased). There is “pocket” formation, or space between the tooth and the gum which hosts a variety of bacteria. The periodontal ligament loses its strength to hold the tooth in place, and thereby teeth become mobile. If not worked upon in time, there could be multiple teeth lost.

As much as it sounds alarming, it is not. There are easy, simple ways to manage these. In fact, good overall management of diabetes will ensure the oral symptoms are also maintained under control. Following are some things to do which will help in managing diabetes in general and the oral symptoms in particular:

As soon as diabetes is diagnosed, visit a dentist to take stock of the oral health condition. Any identified problem should be treated to avoid progression.

1. Keep a close watch to ensure blood sugar remains as close to normal as possible.

2. Switch to a toothbrush with soft or extra-soft bristles. This will help reduce the pressure on the gums and thereby prevent gum bleeding

3. After every meal, remember to brush the teeth.

4. Flossing at least once a day will help remove food deposits between the teeth. Alternately, use interdental brushes.

5. Rinse at least twice daily using an antiseptic mouthwash.

6. Denture-wearers should always clean them daily and never go to sleep with the denture in the mouth.

7. Smoking with diabetics is a strict no-no, work on quitting at the earliest.

8. Visit a dentist every 3 months to ensure oral issues are identified at the earliest and treatment done with minimal intervention.

9. Any dental procedure should be done only when sugar levels are under control.

These will ensure not just oral health but also overall control of diabetes.