A veneer is a thin shell of porcelain that is bonded to the front surface of a tooth. They are usually used for cosmetic reasons to improve the appearance of the front teeth. This can be to:
• Cover discoloured teeth.
• Change the shape of the teeth.
• Disguise previously broken teeth.
• Close gaps between teeth including “black triangles” at gum level.
• Correct irregular positioning of teeth.
If you’ve always wanted to change the appearance of your teeth, please ask one of our dentists who can discuss which options are best for you.
Veneers tend to look at their best for 10 years and may then need replacing.
As with any dental treatment, the standard dental advice applies of cleaning the plaque off daily with a tooth brush and using mini brushes/floss between the teeth and eating a diet low in sugar.
We would encourage you not to bite into very hard foods with just the veneered tooth as there is a risk of debond/fracture. In particular don’t bite your nails, open packaging with your teeth, bite Sellotape etc ie any action which would put very high bite forces through the tip of the veneer.
If you play contact sports then wear a gum shield.
If you are a heavy tooth grinder/clencher at night then we would advise wearing a protective guard to prevent fracture.
The short answer to that is no! In this instance, the “Turkey Teeth” veneer pictures shared on social media are not what we would call veneers. Instead, the tooth shaping that results in small triangular stumps is for crowns and would be considered quite severe by UK standards.
One of the benefits of veneers over crowns is that the teeth don’t have to be aggressively shaped like this. As part of our process we would often produce a mock up of the desired outcome to give you, the patient, a chance to comment on shape and position of the teeth before the veneers are made. This guide helps us to decide how much each tooth needs shaping so we only remove what is necessary and don’t over shape.
A veneer usually covers just the front surface of a tooth. This is unlike a crown which wraps all the way around a tooth.
All estimates for treatment are valid for a year
See below to meet the staff who perform these procedures on a daily basis.
