Porcelain Veneers Lab Turnover Time

Q: Why does my dentist need 3 weeks of lab time to make just my upper veneers?

A: I ordered a set of rims for an American muscle car and was told it would take two months! I had thought it was like renting bowling shoes: “Give me a pair of “10’s”, please, and no toe nails or Band-Aids this time Frank!” And off the shelf they come.

Apparently, wheel-bling is custom made, much like dental work. Each stage of lab work for veneers could take a week of shipping and lab time; even more if your dentist is old school using goopy molds of impressions goo.

The first stage is getting the impression (the hardened goop imprint) poured in plaster. The model has to set for 24 hours, then trimmed, and cut up into the individual teeth that are to be veneered. The plaster model is often sent back to the doctor to mark the finish line of the teeth; the areas were the edges of the veneers will meet the gum line.

NOTE: WE USE DIGITAL SCANNING, NO-GOOP IMPRESSONS. A 3D SCANNER REPLACES ALL THE STEPS ABOVE IN A MORE ACCURATE DIGITLAL FORM.

The second stage is the artistic work of the ceramist, in my case the owner of the lab, Keith from Distinctive Dental Designs, who I have had the pleasure of working with for almost three decades. They painstakingly apply a palate of colored porcelains to your model and bake them in an oven. If you watch golf you will see many of their creations on other local dentist’s patients and mine when they sink a put. I love the fact that in my practice weather you are a blue-collar guy like the folks who raised me, a celebrity, socialite or pro-bono Holocaust survivor, you get the same amazing smiles!

Fine, quality work takes time. Dentists are not “same- day” dry cleaners. Gotta go, I’m “pressed” for time!