All about VENEERS + why I LOVE Hada Family Dental!

GIVEAWAY: Win a complete smile makeover by entering HERE!

If you’ve been around for a bit on my Instagram you know all about my experience with getting veneers at Hada Family Dental – the best ever! And if you’re newer here, I’m about to tell you why I’m SUCH a big fan. Dr. Hada is one of our favorite people who’s always given us the best recommendations, and I’m so excited to share some things he’s said and answer your questions about veneers!

Why should I get veneers?

Once upon a time, when I was probably 10 or so, I cracked my front tooth on my grandma’s pool. All of my adult teeth had already come in, so I had to go to the dentist and get my tooth drilled into and filled with composite veneer.

It worked – and worked well – at first! But every couple of years it would start to get yellow stains and mismatch the shades of my other natural teeth. No matter HOW much I whitened my teeth or used whitening toothpaste, that half fake tooth discoloration was just barely noticeable to me and in all of my pictures. It was a PAIN. But one of those things you say, “Oh, I’ll just go in and keep fixing it every couple of years!” And that’s what I did.

First things first – you NEED to know how thoughtful and personal Dr. Hada is! He truly cares about every one of his patients so much. So, after I went into Dr. Hada’s office to get my tooth filled one time, he called Neil later that night with a concern. He told him that drilling into the one tooth and filling it every few years was not good for my long-term gum health. It was time to look into new options because composite dental veneer was not going to work forever!

We finally decided porcelain veneers were the best option for me, and WOW – I’m SO grateful I made that change!

What was the process like?

The entire process of getting veneers was super easy! Way easier than I thought.

You go into your cosmetic dentist, get a consultation where they’ll take impressions of your teeth, and then the dentist will mock-up what they think is going to look best with YOUR tooth structure. Choose how bright you want them, how much you want the shape to change, the number of teeth you want to get veneers on, and how your smile changes – completely customize them to what you want! Plus, the prep veneers give you the chance to make sure they have the proper fit before the final steps where the veneer’s placement is set.

Do veneers hurt?

No they do not hurt AT ALL. The shot that numbs your gums is a little uncomfortable, but if you’ve had any dental work done at all you already know what that’s like! I would say the hardest part (and it’s not painful, just kind of a pain!) is having the temps on for a couple of weeks. With that process, you do have to chew carefully in the meantime because they’re temporary veneers that allow you to feel out the shape of your new teeth, and make changes before you put the permanent veneers on.

Dr. Hada’s answer:

The process of getting veneers done should not hurt. Local anesthesia (injection) is used to numb the areas we will be working on so the patient should not feel anything painful during the appointment. Nitrous oxide is a great option for anyone who feels anxious in the dental chair to feel more relaxed. The hardest part of the procedure is just being in the dental chair for a long period of time.

Will they drill my teeth down to little nubs?

No and this is a very OLD cosmetic dentistry technique that’s hardly ever done anymore. The new porcelain veneers are so thin that they fit over almost your entire tooth, so there’s very minimal drilling down before they place the veneer over your existing tooth.

What is recovery like?

Literally zero recovery downtime! Your mouth will be a little numb so your smile will take a few hours to fully be normal, but there’s no recovery time, nothing to heal from, nothing you have to do that will cause you to miss work or fun etc.

Dr. Hada’s answer:

After the first appointment where we prepare the teeth for temporaries, the patient might feel soreness of their gum tissue in the areas where we worked. The teeth could also be a little sore. We advise the patient take Tylenol or Advil prior to leaving the dental chair to help with this soreness. The numbness should wear off a couple hours after leaving our office.

After the second appointment where we cement your permanents, we will numb the areas we will be working on once again with local anesthesia. The gum tissue may be sore again. We will recommend Tylenol or Advil prior to leaving the dental chair again to help with this soreness. The numbness should wear off a couple hours after leaving the office.

How will veneers change my smile?

One of my FAVORITE things about Dr. Hada’s work with veneers is how my teeth have such a natural look. He showed me patients he has done and some I even know personally that got veneers and they look JUST like their own teeth! Best of both worlds: teeth that look like yours just a little bit better!

Dr. Hada completely let me guide the ship and decide exactly how much or how little we wanted to change things (but still gave me great suggestions)! I wanted to still look like myself but change it so that all of my front teeth matched.

You have a lot of say in how different your teeth and smile look after! I took his suggestion to widen my smile just a bit and I can’t tell you HOW happy I am with the results! I think the best compliment came from my dad, who almost never notices any change in my appearance. I think I could dye my hair red and he wouldn’t notice. But after I got my veneers done by Dr. Hada, the next time I saw my dad he said, “Wow Corrine your teeth look beautiful!” That said a lot.

Before pictures

Here’s a few examples of my smile BEFORE getting veneers. You can see where one of my two front teeth was more yellow, depending on how long it had been since I last had the composite drilled out and re-filled. But that was the tooth that I hit on my grandma’s pool when I was a kid.

Afters!

Here are some after photos of what my teeth looked like after I got my full set of traditional porcelain veneers done by Dr. Hada.

What type of veneer should I get?

I was SO happy with my veneers that a few years down the road we decided it was Neil’s turn to get on Dr. Hada’s schedule! Neil only had a few things that bothered him: a little gap between his two front teeth and a few other little gaps here and there.

We talked about doing composite material veneers that totally would’ve been a great option for filling in those gaps – they worked for years for me! BUT, seeing the wonderful results I had, the durability, and how long-lasting and permanent the porcelain veneers were, Neil decided to do the porcelain veneers. And he absolutely LOVES them!

We highly suggest porcelain veneers if you have the option! We couldn’t be happier with ours.

Why Hada Family Dental?

I could talk all day long about how much I love and admire Hada Family Dental. Everyone who works there is SO kind and personable with their patients.

One of the greatest things I admire about Dr. Hada is how positive he is! There’s a misconception about dentists that their job is so depressing and unfulfilling (in fact there’s a pretty high suicide rate statistic among dentists). But Rich Hada is the exact opposite. He genuinely gets so much fulfillment in helping people feel confident in their smile! He has helped Neil and me and SO many others, especially with smile restorations.

We actually did a podcast episode with him this week! You can hear all about how he runs his office and has such a united team and how they’ve created such a cool culture at Hada Family Dental in THIS episode!

How long do veneers last?

Veneers can last anywhere from 10 to 30 years depending on how well you take care of them. A VERY long time! You just have to make sure you’re doing your usual brushing & flossing twice a day (or at least flossing somewhat frequently, let’s be real), and not being too hard on them with the things you eat.

How much do veneers cost?

Veneers are an investment, but one that’s SO worth it.

BUT, I was talking to Dr. Hada about the reach I can have from social media and we decided how cool it would be to GIFT a smile makeover to someone who really deserves it! SO, enter below for a chance to win a complete smile makeover with Hada Family Dental!

Giveaway!!

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HERE to win a complete smile makeover!

Please note that you must either be local to Orange County CA, or be able to cover your travel expenses here. You can get them done in 2 trips, and many people travel to Dr. Hada from all over the country to get their veneers done by him!

Live Q&A

ONE last thing – join us Monday 9/12/22 at 11 a.m. PT where I’ll go live on my account @corrinestokoe with @doctor.hada and ask all of YOUR questions, that Dr. Hada can answer! If you have questions, leave them in the comments below and we’ll do our best to answer all of them on Monday’s live.

I hope this blog post helped you a little whether you were just curious or seriously looking into veneers. GOOD LUCK on the giveaway!