Very few people are born with perfectly straight and white teeth. Everyone else has to pretend by putting porcelain veneers on their teeth. By using porcelain veneers, you can also get that smile you’ve always dreamed of.
But there’s a reason that it’s mostly just the rich and famous that have beautiful veneered smiles: veneers are expensive. Costing up to $2,500 per tooth, dental veneers are not a casual investment. But, is there any way to get the beautiful results of veneers without feeling the financial pinch?
DIY veneers could be your answer.
What Are DIY Veneers?
DIY (do-it-yourself) veneers are a variation of traditional permanent dental veneers.
But, then, what are veneers for teeth? Regular veneers are usually made of porcelain or dental composite and cemented individually to the front of each front tooth. DIY veneers, on the other hand, usually consist of one solid removable plastic piece that fits right over your existing teeth and covers them up from molar to molar.
A set of DIY veneers typically consists of an upper and/or lower tray of thin tooth-shaped shells all joined together at the sides. These DIY veneers for teeth are shaped to comfortably fit right over your own teeth while making them appear whiter and more evenly-shaped from the outside.
The DIY veneer trays are made by a company, but they’re DIY in the sense that you order a DIY veneers kit and take the impression of your teeth yourself right in the comfort of your home.
Once your at-home veneers are delivered to you, you can pop them in and instantly experience a dramatic smile makeover.
How Do DIY Veneer Teeth Work?
With DIY tooth veneers, there’s no need for a single trip to the dental office compared to the long porcelain veneers procedure.
The straightforward DIY veneers process looks something like this:
- Search online for a DIY dental veneers company you like the look of.
- Order a DIY veneers kit.
- Take impressions of your teeth and send them back in the box provided.
- Find out if your teeth qualify for veneers.
- Purchase the veneers in your preferred shade.
- Receive your new veneers and start showing off your smile.
To place traditional permanent veneers, a dentist would have to prepare your teeth by trimming down a small bit of enamel from the fronts of them. This allows the permanent veneers to lay flush with your teeth and look as natural as possible.
There’s no need to alter your teeth, however, when you use temporary veneers there is no need to alter your teeth, they snap right over your existing teeth.
Keep in mind that a simple snap-in set of temporary veneers won’t fix structural problems with your teeth. If you have a tooth that’s decayed or infected or in pain, then you may need a dental crown instead of a set of veneers, removable or otherwise. When comparing a crown vs veneer for your treatment, remember that crowns repair and strengthen teeth while veneers only hide the problem.
You have to remember that the purpose of a snap on veneer is to aesthetically cover your teeth, not to fix the problem.
Why Use Do-It-Yourself Veneers?
Ordering a do-it-yourself veneers kit could be just the boost your self-confidence needs. You can get a gorgeous new smile for a fraction of the cost of regular veneers and avoid all the anxiety that comes with visiting a dentist. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about any damage being done to your teeth.
A list of the pros and cons of getting a removable set of veneers can help you decide whether this treatment is right for you.
- Cheaper than porcelain veneers
- Instant results
- No uncomfortable visits at the dental office
- 100% reversible; you can simply take them out anytime you want to go back to your original smile
- Must be removed and cleaned thoroughly each day to prevent bacterial growth
- Not recommended to eat with them in (you can, but you risk them slipping out of place and breaking)
- Must avoid dark-colored foods and beverages while wearing the removable veneers
- Don’t look as natural as custom-made porcelain veneers (temporary removable veneers are opaque in color and don’t have gaps in between them)
- Can feel bulky and may take some getting used to
- Won’t correct your bite or sufficiently replace missing teeth
Temporary veneers can be great for the looks of your smile, but they do have their flaws. Make sure that you carefully look at the pros and cons before you decide which kind of veneers are right for you.
Given how much DIY veneers cost, though, it’s worth giving a try. If you compare how much are pop on veneers compared to traditional veneers, you’ll realize that you can save thousands of dollars. For example, the average cost of top veneers (only) is between $900 and $2,500 per tooth and if you choose DIY dental veneers, it’ll cost only $300 on average. Instead of paying thousands of dollars to fix up just one or two teeth with porcelain veneers, you could get a whole row of beautiful upper and lower teeth for just a few hundred dollars.
A set of removable veneers could be just the thing if you don’t want to make any permanent changes to your teeth but would like to enhance your smile for a photoshoot or special occasion. You can wear your temporary veneers to take a professional profile picture or to ensure that you’re not embarrassed of the smile immortalized in your wedding photos for years to come.
How To Make At-Home Veneers
Before talking about how to make veneers, we’d like to clearly state one simple suggestion when it comes to attempting to make your own at-home veneers:
Don’t.
You might find all sorts of dental veneer hacks shared out there on the Internet. For example, some people recommend drilling replacement denture teeth to fit over your own teeth and fastening them there with a denture glue or super glue. This might be the cheapest veneer hack, but it’s also the most dangerous.
First, if your tooth is damaged, then covering it up with glue and a makeshift cap could trap dangerous bacteria inside and cause an infection.
Secondly, if your at-home DIY veneer is a little too long or too big, it can prevent your teeth from biting together comfortably. This could lead to jaw pain and tooth sensitivity.
Lastly, because superglue is toxic, it should not be used in the mouth.
If you’d like to improve the look of your smile, then we’d recommend safer options like custom-fitted removable veneers or even choosing the best dental veneers in US if you have the money to invest in it.
Best DIY Veneers Alternatives
Straightening your teeth can be even healthier than just covering them up with veneers. To get straighter and brighter teeth without visiting a dentist, then check out Byte aligners. These clear aligners can make your teeth as beautiful as if they had veneers by straightening them out over the course of a few months. Plus, Byte comes with a whitening rinse. And if Byte doesn't suit your needs or budget, you have plenty of options to choose from, but the ones above are the best for us.
What Is A Do It Yourself Tooth Veneer Kit?
When you order a set of DIY teeth veneers, the initial do it yourself tooth veneer kit usually comes with all the materials you need to make your own impressions. This would include an impression putty, instructions, trays, and packing materials for sending in your impressions.
The purpose of this kit is to ensure that your veneers fit comfortably over your teeth and make them look as nice as possible. The company you order the kit from will use your impressions to determine the width, length, and positioning of your veneers.
Just make sure to order a kit instead of trying to make your own at-home veneers! As discussed above, that could be downright dangerous.
Temporary teeth veneers are a great way to take your smile up a notch, even if it’s just so that you can show it off for one special day.
But if you have dental problems that are not cosmetic, like severely damaged or decayed teeth, then a DIY veneer kit will not solve your problems.
What Is The Best Option For You?
You have multiple options to choose from depending on your health needs, personal preferences, and price range.
Visit your local dentist for a dental health evaluation and some professional advice if you aren’t sure which treatment is best for your smile. If you have a clean bill of health and it turns out that looks are your only concern, then you could save a lot of money by boosting your smile with some DIY veneers.
FAQ
Yes, they will make your teeth look a bit bigger, as DIY veneers are trays that fit over your teeth. However, it must be said that it will depend on the size of your natural teeth: if you have petite teeth they will look natural, but if you have bigger teeth they will look bulky if you got cheap DIY veneers.
Regarding DIY veneers as they are made from a less durable material than porcelain, for example, you’ll have to replace it every 2 years (on average), but it will depend on how much you use them. Besides, as soon as they are chipped or cracked you will have to replace them too as they won’t be safe anymore to wear.
Yes, they are durable: however, as we have mentioned above, they last less than porcelain veneers as the material is less durable.
Yes, they do. Traditional veneers cost between $925 and $2,500 per tooth on average, and DIY veneers cost between $300 and $800 for both full sets.
If by DIY veneers, you mean a set of veneers you made at home by yourself without with materials you bought, etc. Yes, they will ruin your teeth. But, if you are talking about DIY veneers as those that are sent by a dental team to your home for you to only take impressions: no, they won’t ruin your teeth, and they are safe. You must keep in mind that veneers MUST be done by a dental professional.
Sources
- Yousef Alothman and Maryam Saleh Bamasoud. "The Success of Dental Veneers According To Preparation Design and Material Type" (2018) doi: 10.3889/oamjms.2018.353
- C G Sheets, T Taniguchi. "Advantages and limitations in the use of porcelain veneer restorations" (1990) doi: 10.1016/0022-3913(90)90035-b
- R G Luthardt, M Stössel, M Hinz, R Vollandt. "Clinical performance and periodontal outcome of temporary crowns and fixed partial dentures: A randomized clinical trial" (2000) doi: 10.1016/s0022-3913(00)70086-2
- Renton, T. "Tooth-Related Pain or Not?" (2019) doi: 10.1111/head.13689
This is an interesting topic! I’ve never heard of DIY veneers before, so it will be great to learn more about them in this article. Thanks for sharing!