Veneers and laminates

A veneer is a thin shell bonded to the front of a tooth. It can change colour, close small gaps, repair chipped edges and make mildly crooked teeth appear straight.

What it is

Veneers work on the visible surface. A thin layer of porcelain or composite is bonded over the front of the tooth, changing its shade, shape and apparent position while the tooth behind stays in place. Where the problem is genuinely cosmetic and the teeth are sound, it is a direct answer.

Porcelain veneers are made in a laboratory, resist staining well and look convincing because light passes through them much as it does through enamel. They usually need a small amount of enamel removed — commonly half a millimetre — and that cannot be undone. Composite veneers are built up directly in the mouth in one visit, cost less and can often be done with little or no drilling, but they stain more and need replacing sooner.

The honest limitation is that veneers cover; they do not move. Using them to make significantly crooked teeth look straight means cutting far more tooth away, and the further you cut, the closer you get to the nerve and the weaker the tooth becomes. Where teeth are notably out of line, moving them first with orthodontics and then placing minimal veneers — or none at all — gives a better and more conservative result.

Veneers are also not for a mouth that is grinding. Porcelain bonded onto a tooth that is ground nightly chips, and it chips repeatedly. That needs addressing first, and a night guard afterwards.

You may need this if…

• Teeth discoloured in a way whitening has not corrected
• Chipped or worn edges on the front teeth
• Small gaps between the front teeth
• Teeth of uneven shape or size
• Mild crowding where the teeth themselves are sound
• Old composite bonding that has stained or worn

What happens, step by step

1. Planning

   Part of smile designing: what is being changed and why, with photographs and a mock-up so you see the proposed shape before preparation.

2. Health first

   Decay, gum disease and grinding dealt with beforehand. Veneers bonded onto unhealthy foundations fail.

3. Preparation

   A minimal reduction of enamel where needed — sometimes none for composite — then an impression or scan.

4. Temporaries

   Provisional veneers while the laboratory makes the final ones, which also lets you test the new shape.

5. Try-in and bonding

   Fitted and checked for shade and shape with you holding a mirror, then bonded once you are happy. After bonding, changes mean remaking.

6. Review

   A check on the bite and the gum margins after a couple of weeks.

Looking after it afterwards

• Do not bite nails, pens or thread with veneered teeth.
• Wear a night guard if you grind — this is what keeps them intact.
• Clean the margins carefully; decay can still start at the edge of a veneer.
• Tea, coffee, red wine and tobacco stain the natural tooth and the bonding line.
• Return promptly if one chips or feels loose.

Questions people actually ask

This page is general information about veneers and laminates. It is not advice about your own mouth — for that you need to be examined.