Your Veneers Consultation: What Actually Happens
I'm Dr. Nina Izhaky. Most people picture a veneers consultation as a sales pitch with a mirror. Ours isn't. A veneer consultation is a clinical evaluation with a design session built in: we scan your teeth in 3D, examine your bite, gums, and enamel, design what veneers could look like on your actual face, and let you try on a preview smile in your own mouth. You leave knowing whether veneers are right for you, what the result would look like, and your exact price - before anything permanent happens.
What we evaluate before designing anything
Veneers are cosmetic, but the evaluation is clinical. These are the four things we check first.
Your enamel and tooth health.
We check for decay, deep fractures, old restorations, and structural weakness before cosmetic work is ever planned. A veneer bonds to your real tooth - that tooth has to be healthy first.
Your bite and grinding habits.
A deep bite, crossbite, or heavy nighttime grinding changes everything about how we design - and sometimes whether we recommend veneers at all. We evaluate your bite before the design starts.
Your gums and smile proportions.
Healthy, stable gum tissue lets us establish clean veneer margins and evaluate true tooth proportions. Your lip posture, cheekbones, and facial proportions shape the smile arc we design.
Your actual goals.
Brighter? Straighter-looking? Gaps closed? Edges evened? We listen first, because the design follows your goal - not a template.
The consultation, step by step
One appointment. You see your future smile before you decide anything.
High-resolution 3D scans.
We capture detailed digital scans of your teeth - no messy impressions. This is the foundation everything else is designed from.
Digital smile design on your face.
We design your smile in 3D - tooth length, width, and angle engineered to match your lip posture, cheekbones, and facial proportions. This is the facial visagism part: your smile designed for your face, not a template.
A try-on smile in your mouth.
We place a temporary composite version of your designed smile in your own mouth. You see it, feel it, photograph it, show your partner - before anything is permanent.
Your exact price, in writing.
Based on the design: the material we recommend, how many teeth, and the handcrafting involved. Handcrafted porcelain $1,900-$3,500 per tooth, no-prep $1,800-$3,000, composite $500-$1,500 - and your exact number, before anything begins. We'll walk you through financing too.
The try-on smile is the whole point
Here's what separates a real veneers consultation from a guess: you wear the result before it exists. That temporary composite try-on smile shows you the shade, the length, the arc - how your new smile actually sits on your face when you talk and laugh. If something feels off - too long, too bright, not you - we adjust the design before a single tooth is touched. And if the evaluation shows veneers aren't right for you - your enamel is thick and beautiful and all you need is alignment - we'll tell you that too. The consultation costs you an hour. A wrong treatment costs you years.
Hablamos español
We warmly welcome Spanish-speaking patients. Nuestro equipo le explica su evaluación y su precio exacto en su idioma - llámenos al (212) 561-5303. No facturamos directamente al seguro; le ayudamos con el financiamiento para que el plan se ajuste a su vida.
What a Consultation Should Never Feel Like
A veneers consultation should never feel like being sold a car. If you walk in and the dentist recommends eight veneers before looking at your bite, your gums, or your scans - that's not a consultation, that's a quote with a chair in it. I've watched patients come to us from those appointments with a treatment plan they couldn't explain and a price they couldn't justify. The veneers weren't necessarily wrong. The process was.
So here's what I tell every patient at their first visit: the consultation is mine to earn. I scan your teeth, I evaluate your bite and your enamel, and then - before any recommendation - I ask what bothers you. Because a veneer plan designed around your actual goal is a completely different thing than a veneer plan designed around a production target. One fits your face. The other fits a spreadsheet.
And sometimes my recommendation costs me the sale, and that's fine. When the scans show thick, beautiful enamel and moderate crowding, I talk patients out of veneers and into alignment - a fraction of the investment, none of their enamel touched. When the scans show a bite that can't support porcelain yet, I say so. The try-on smile goes on your teeth either way, the exact price goes in writing either way, and you go home with the truth about your own mouth. That's what a consultation is for.
“A veneer plan designed around your actual goal is a completely different thing than a veneer plan designed around a production target. One fits your face. The other fits a spreadsheet.”
— Dr. Nina Izhaky, Tribeca Dental Studio
Veneers consultation questions, answered
01What happens at a veneers consultation?
We scan your teeth in 3D, evaluate your enamel, bite, gums, and goals, design your smile digitally, and place a try-on smile in your mouth so you see the result before anything is permanent. You leave with an honest recommendation and your exact price - before anything begins. Call (212) 561-5303 to book.
02How long does a veneers consultation take?
Plan for about an hour. The scans take minutes; the design, try-on, and conversation about your options is where the time goes - and it's the most important part.
03Will I see what my veneers will look like before I commit?
Yes - that's the whole point. We design your smile in 3D and place a temporary composite try-on smile in your mouth. You see the shade, length, and shape on your own face before anything permanent happens.
04Do I get my exact price at the consultation?
Yes. Based on the design, you'll know the material we recommend, how many teeth, and your exact price to the dollar - before anything begins. We'll also walk you through financing options.
05What if the evaluation shows I shouldn't get veneers?
Then we'll tell you - that's the job. If your enamel is thick and beautiful and all you need is alignment, we recommend orthodontics. If your bite can't support porcelain yet, we say so. You leave with the truth about your teeth either way.
06Does the consultation include a dental exam?
It's a focused cosmetic evaluation: we check for decay, deep fractures, old restorations, gum health, and bite function as they relate to veneers. If you haven't had a routine cleaning and exam recently, we'll recommend one first.
07Can I bring photos of smiles I like?
Please do. Reference photos help us understand your taste - brighter, more natural, a specific shape. The design is for your face, but your taste sets the direction.
08What if I grind my teeth - will the consultation catch that?
Yes. We evaluate grinding and clenching habits during the consultation because they affect how we design your veneers and whether you need a nighttime guard to protect them.
09Do I have to decide the same day?
No. You leave with the design, the try-on experience, and the exact price. Take your time - the information doesn't expire, and we'd rather you decide confidently than quickly.
010How do I book a veneers consultation?
Call (212) 561-5303 or book online at our Tribeca practice, 54 Warren Street, New York, NY 10007. We welcome Spanish-speaking patients - nuestro equipo le atiende en su idioma.
Veneers in the heart of Tribeca
Find us at 54 Warren Street, New York, NY 10007 - in the heart of Tribeca, serving patients across Tribeca, SoHo, Battery Park City, the Financial District, and Downtown Manhattan.
See your smile before you decide
One hour, one 3D scan, one try-on smile, one exact price. Call (212) 561-5303 or book online - your consultation is where the truth about your teeth comes out.
