My Veneer Design Process, From Consultation to Placement

Every veneer I place is made for one person only. The width of your teeth, how much of them show when you talk, the shade of the teeth sitting beside them, the shape of your face around all of it: none of that arrives in a box.

I have been treating patients since I began my career in 1996, and I work alongside a master lab technician so the veneers come back looking entirely natural. If you're considering veneers, the part of my process I most want you to understand is how much you get to see before anything is permanent.

Your smile is designed, previewed, and adjusted long before the porcelain is ever crafted.

Single Tooth to Full Set

What Makes a Veneer Custom to Your Smile

Your veneers are customized to meet your smile goals, and the scope of that depends on what you want to change.

If one tooth is discolored and the rest of your smile is where you want it, I can make a single veneer color-matched to the teeth around it. If you want a complete smile makeover, I can design veneers for each of your front teeth.

Those two cases call for very different work, and I design both from scratch.

Porcelain is what lets that customization hold up in daylight. It mimics the light-reflecting properties of natural teeth, so a well-designed veneer catches light the way the tooth beside it does.

Porcelain also resists stains, so the shade you approve should hold for years with normal care. Veneers can conceal a chip, a tooth that is small or oddly shaped, a gap you have never liked, minor misalignment, and deep stains from trauma, medication, or aging that will not respond to whitening.

Before You Sit in My Chair

Your Consultation and Your Wax-Up Model

My virtual consultations are free, and you can do yours from anywhere. I also see patients in the office, and that consultation carries a fee.

For the virtual version, you send photos, and I send back a video covering your options, how the process works, and a cost breakdown. That way you can weigh the whole decision before you ever drive to Red Bank.

When you do come in, we talk through what bothers you about your smile and where you want to end up, and I confirm you are a candidate. Then I examine your teeth, take X-rays and photos of your smile, and design a wax-up model of your veneers from that conversation.

That model is the first physical version of your new smile. It is part of my Smile Design process, which thousands of patients have been through.

Crowded Teeth Change the Plan

When a Smile Test Drive Fits Your Case

I typically reserve the Smile Test Drive for my no-prep veneer patients. Using your wax-up model as the blueprint, I create a mock-up in temporary resin and place it over your teeth so you can wear it and see how it feels, and it is non-invasive, pain-free, and involves absolutely no commitment.

Most cases call for a different approach. If your teeth are somewhat crowded, for example, a mock-up laid over them cannot make them look straight, because that result depends on recontouring the teeth first. For cases like that, your preview comes a little later, in your temporaries.

Whether it is the mock-up or your temporaries, what I want back from you is opinions. Wear it, look at it in your own mirror, and take notes on anything you would change. Meet with your partner, your family, your friends, and get their opinions too.

I encourage patients to weigh in on the design, and I adjust it until it feels like yours instead of like mine.

About Two Weeks In

Your Temporaries Are a Preview You Can Live In

About two weeks after your consultation, you come back so I can do the minimal amount of recontouring your teeth need to get us the result we designed. Anesthesia is available for your comfort.

Then I place temporary veneers, and those do two jobs. They protect your natural tooth structure, and they let you wear your smile out in the world. You can come into the office any time for adjustments while you have them on.

At your next appointment, I scan your teeth while you are wearing the temporaries and send those scans to the lab to be duplicated.

The porcelain is made to match the version you have already lived in and signed off on, which is the whole reason I run the process this way.

A Lasting Enhancement

A Smile You Approved Before It Was Permanent

Cared for properly, your veneers can last 15 to 20 years.

By the time I bond anything into place, you have seen the design, told me what to change, and lived in the temporaries the final porcelain was copied from.

If preserving more of your tooth structure matters to you, ask about no-prep veneers during your consultation, since I offer no-prep and minimal-prep options as well.

Whichever direction we go, the design conversation works the same way.

That design work is what my practice is known for. I received a 2024 Bella Magazine Beauty Award recognizing me as Best in Service for veneers, I've helped titleholders like Miss Vermont USA get pageant-ready, and I have treated models, Miss USA contestants, influencers, and plenty of people who now love their smiles like never before.

Not Covered by Insurance

How Patients Pay for Veneers at Our Red Bank Office

Veneers are a cosmetic treatment, so insurance does not cover them. Treatment you may need first can be a different story, and something like gum disease treatment may be covered before we start on the cosmetic part.

For the veneers themselves, we accept financing through Cherry, so you can choose a monthly payment plan instead of paying all at once. You can see the options on our payment plans page, and CareCredit is available as well.

Get Started

Explore What's Possible

A custom smile comes down to how many chances you get to look at the design and say what you think while it can still be changed. If you are exploring veneers in Red Bank, NJ, let's start with a conversation about what you want to change.