Composite veneers

Often called ‘bonding’, a composite veneer is placed over the surface of your tooth and requires no preparation of the enamel. Composite resin is a plastic material that will stain and loose lustre over time and will require replacing every couple of years.

As you use the entire existing tooth as the base structure of the veneer you are unable to change the aesthetics and alignment of the teeth dramatically. Composite veneers can sometimes appear ‘bulky’ and unnatural looking.

Porcelain veneers

The first veneers created were Feldspathic porcelain, which was a very labour-intensive procedure and required the technician to hand build the porcelain. These veneers had amazing aesthetics but were extremely difficult to construct and needed a master technician to create them.

These days the common way of making porcelain veneers is to “mill” a base of porcelain in a machine and then place a coating of porcelain glass and stain over it. It is then fired at high temperature in a porcelain oven. There are a number of materials on the market with different strengths but ultimately it does not affect the appearance of the veneer as long as a skilled technician is making them. Porcelain veneers have excellent aesthetics and can last decades provided you look after them much like you would your natural teeth. Using porcelain gives us complete freedom when choosing colour, shape and alignment… this means you are able to achieve the optimal end result. You will see veneers from natural shades to Hollywood white – Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so make a choice to best suit you.

Remember if it is cheap to do, it is cheap to make and the quality of fit and aesthetics could be compromised. Before you decide on a cosmetic solution, It is important to see some work that the dentist has done to get an idea of what can be achieved for you.