Can Temporary Veneers Cause Pain?

Can temporary veneers cause me pain? That's a common question people ask before getting them, and it's entirely reasonable. After all, preparing teeth for veneers often involves grinding them down a little. Temporary veneers can't block heat or other substances as well as ceramic crowns, either, so it's reasonable to worry about them causing pain.

Here's what you should know about whether temporary veneers can give people pain and your options for dealing with it.

Why Might Temporary Veneers Be Necessary?

As the name suggests, temporary veneers are a short-term protection while your dentist prepares a long-term solution for your teeth. In most cases, temporary veneers are used to keep your teeth safe while a laboratory manufactures permanent veneers to the dentist's specifications.

What Is Involved In The Procedure?

The exact procedure varies slightly, but it's based on your teeth's current status and what the dentist needs to do to prepare them. So it may differ from the procedure described below.

In most cases, however, applying temporary veneers starts with a deep cleaning of the teeth involved. This is different from regular surface cleaning and involves cleaning your teeth down to their roots. This helps eliminate surface stains and prepares your tooth for the rest of the process.

After your tooth is clean, your dentist will use a shade guide to determine the best colour (or, occasionally, colours) of veneer to create. This information goes to the lab creating the permanent veneer.

Once that information is in-hand, dentists usually remove the enamel's surface layer to prepare your tooth for the veneer. This typically involves removing up to 0.3 mm of the surface material. However, in some cases, dentists can place temporary veneers without removing the surface enamel.

Putting temporary veneers on without taking out some enamel can lead to teeth feeling strangely bulky, though, and many people prefer to do this earlier in the process. Once the teeth are ready, your dentist will place the temporary veneer and finish up the treatment.

Why Might Temp Veneers Cause Pain?

So, what's going on when temporary veneers cause pain? In most cases, this pain is indirect. The veneer itself shouldn't be in contact with any nerves, so it can't directly stimulate your sense of pain.

Instead, the pain usually occurs if the temporary veneer doesn't completely protect your tooth, or if you eat something a little too rough for it. For example, particularly hot foods may transmit heat through the veneer and into your less-protected tooth.

In rare cases, temporary veneers may also cause pain if they're placed incorrectly and end up tugging at your teeth when you eat. This is not a common issue, but it can happen at times.

Regardless of the cause, talk to your dentist immediately if you experience significant pain while wearing your temporary veneers. They may recommend that you try to control the pain with over-the-counter pain relievers like aspirin. Alternatively, your dentist may wish to repair or replace the temporary veneer.

Either way, this pain is temporary because the veneers themselves are also temporary. One way or another, your dentist will fix it for you.

Preventive Measures

Pain is not especially common while wearing temporary veneers, but you can take a few preventive measures to help reduce the chance of it happening.

• Avoid Hard Foods: Try to avoid eating anything crunchy, like french bread, popcorn, or hard candy. These can put a lot of pressure on the veneer, leading to it tugging on your tooth or even popping off entirely.
• Avoid Sticky Foods: Sticky food like caramel and taffy can hurt your teeth by pulling the veneer away from it. Temporary veneers aren't nearly as secure as crowns or permanent veneers, so do whatever you can to avoid sticky foods.
• Avoid Hot/Cold Foods: Room-temperature foods are the best choice when you're wearing temporary veneers. Anything that's unusually hot or cold, such as freshly brewed coffee or ice cream, is more likely to trigger a painful reaction.

The best foods to eat when you have temporary veneers include fish, bananas, pasta, eggs, and softer canned foods.