What are porcelain veneers?

Porcelain veneers, also known as dental veneers or dental porcelain laminates, are wafer-thin shells of porcelain which are bonded onto the front side of teeth for a cosmetic improvement in their appearance. Porcelain veneers are comanly used to for teeth that are discolored, worn, chipped, or misaligned.

Why a porcelain veneer?

Porcelain veneers are an excellent alternative to crowns. They provide a much more conservative approach to changing a tooth's color, size, or shape. Porcelain veneers can mask undesirable defects, such as teeth stained by tetracycline, by an injury, or as a result of a root-canal procedure, and are ideal for masking discolored fillings in front teeth.

Patients with gaps between their teeth, teeth that are chipped or worn may also consider porcelain veneers.  When properly performed, veneers can last for many years.

What happens during the procedure?
Patients need three appointments for the entire procedure: diagnosis and treatment planning, preparation, and bonding.

Two advantages of porcelain veneers over other types of cosmetic dental bonding are:

1) Porcelain veneers have a very life-like tooth appearance.

Porcelain veneers, because they are very thin, have a great advantage over other types of cosmetic dental bonding by the fact that they are translucent. When they are bonded onto teeth, they mimic the light handling characteristics of enamel.

Light will penetrate a porcelain veneers thickness, and then subsequently be reflected back out once it has reached the tooth structure lying underneath the veneer. This effect provides a sense of depth, and a very life-like appearance.

2) Porcelain veneers resist staining.
Cosmetic dental bonding materials in the past would be suseptable to staining and discoloring. Individual who drank alot of tea, coffee, red wine smoked cigarettes would find that their teeth stained.

A significant advantage of porcelain veneers over other types of cosmetic dental bonding is that a porcelain veneers surface is porcelain. The surface is extremely smooth and glass-like, which means porcelain veneers will not pick up permanent stains.