Should I Choose Invisalign or Veneers to Fix My Gapped Teeth?

Having misaligned teeth is very common. In fact, nine out of 10 people have crooked or misaligned teeth with gaps between them. If you’re among them, you’ve probably considered your options for straightening your teeth and eliminating the gaps. 

Fixing gapped teeth can increase your confidence and improve your overall dental health. But should you choose Invisalign or veneers?

The team at Laguna Vista Dental in Elk Grove, California, examines your teeth and helps determine whether Invisalign or veneers is the appropriate treatment to fix your gapped or misaligned teeth.

When to choose veneers

Veneers offer a cosmetic treatment option to hide the imperfections of your teeth. They are thin sheets of porcelain that your dentist attaches to the fronts of your teeth. If you have small gaps and mild misalignment, veneers can achieve straighter-looking teeth.

Advantages of veneers:

• Along with closing small gaps between your teeth, veneers hide stains and chips, giving you a whiter smile
• Veneers are a quicker treatment option than Invisalign

Veneers do not physically move your teeth into a new position, so they can only disguise crooked teeth or help fill in small spaces between your teeth. Veneers last 10 to 15 years, after which you will probably need to replace them.

Some foods and beverages can leave stains on veneers, dulling their color over time. 

When to choose Invisalign

Invisalign is an orthodontic treatment that relies on a series of customized plastic aligners to apply gentle pressure to your teeth and move them into position over time. The Laguna Vista Dental team chooses Invisalign over veneers when your teeth have mild to moderate misalignment and gap issues.

Advantages of Invisalign include:

• Permanent results
• Flexibility to remove the aligners to eat and drink and clean your teeth
• Reduced risk of tooth decay and oral health issues

Do I need both Invisalign and veneers?

The team at Laguna Vista Dental helps determine if porcelain veneers or Invisalign is the better choice for you based on the severity of your misalignment and gapped teeth. We also take your cosmetic goals into consideration.

Your dentist makes a recommendation for treatment and some people even decide to get both Invisalign and veneers to achieve the smile they want. If you decide to get both, you’ll start with Invisalign to guide your teeth into the proper position and eliminate gaps, and later you can have veneers added to the fronts of your teeth to brighten and perfect your smile.

If you’d like to learn more about your options for fixing your gapped or misaligned teeth, call the office or schedule an appointment online today.