So, what are dental veneers? They are like a shell that will cover your teeth. Generally, they are very thin and are made from porcelain. They can also be made from other materials, but those are in minority. The material from which they are made and the way they are stuck to your teeth will restrict the food which you are allowed to eat. Unlike crowns that fall much faster and you must go and recement dental crown, veneers can break more easily. This is the main reason for which you should listen to the recommendations made by your dentist.
The advantage that veneers have over crowns is the ability to restore a smile much better. Although crowns have the same ability, they are not as efficient as veneers. In this article, you will find which food should you eat and which you should not. Of course, you can make occasional exceptions, but you should try to keep them as rare as possible.
Which Food Can Damage Your Dental Veneers?
The number of foods and drinks that could have negative effects on your dental veneers is quite big. Because of that, below you will find them grouped in categories and explanations for each category:
1. Dark/black liquids. In this category are included all type of darker colored drinks, for example, coffee and cola, or even black tea and red wine. Basically, any drink that has a shade of black will affect your veneers. The negative effect can be imagined. Yes, they will destroy your smile by coloring it in darker shades. As mentioned above, you do not need to completely obtain from them, but you should make their consumption a rare occasion (if you want to keep that awesome smile intact). And of course, after drinking anything from this category you should brush and/or rinse your mouth. By doing this you will reduce the negative effects at a minimum.
2. Hard food. This is probably the most dangerous category because it can beak your veneers. Crowns are more solid and you will not need to recement dental crown because of hard food, but for veneers the danger is real and they may get cracked or destroyed if you keep eating things like dry bread.
3. Alcohol. Apart from those colored like the red wine mentioned above, any type of alcohol will have negative effects on your veneers. How so? Because alcohol have the ability to slowly break the bonding material, which keeps your teeth and the veneers together. The more frequent you consume it, the faster your smile will be ruined, so try to keep your consum low.
What Food Will Make You Need to Recement Dental Crown but Will Not Affect Your Veneers?
There is a misconception that all the food that may have a negative effect on a crown will surely have the same effects on veneers as well. This is completely false because of the way these two solutions work is completely different. While they have the same final goal, but because of their difference, there are also foods that can affect one more than the other. So, a food that may send you to recement dental crown will not have any negative effects on veneers.
On the other hand, there's also food that will damage your veneers very fast, but they will not have any effects, or minimal ones, on a crown. The most used example of this is hard food. While veneers are very vulnerable to hard food and they may break very fast, for a crown the risk is much more reduced, and also the damage that can appear is very limited.
A very good example of a food that will not affect your veneers, but it is very dangerous for a crown is a gum. You can eat any type of gum, as long as you take care to not chew very hard, or the gum itself is not very tough. On the other hand, a crown will have a hard time because the stickiness of the gum will slowly reduce the bond between your teeth and the crown and in time this will make it fall.
Maybe you have realized, but the category of foods that you can eat with dental veneers with almost zero consequences are sticky foods. Of course, you should not exaggerate with them, but in comparison with a crown, your dental veneers will have a much easier time to eat this type of food.
