Porcelain Veneers

What are veneers?

Veneers are very thin shells that are attached to the front part of teeth. They tend to be used to improve the appearance of broken, stained, discoloured, misshapen or misaligned teeth.

Porcelain veneers are stronger than composite resin veneers and do not change colour or stain. Generally, porcelain veneers take at least 2 dental visits to apply and composite resin veneers can be done in 1 visit. Porcelain veneers generally last longer than composite resin veneers.

At Lightwood Dental Care we tend to use composite veneers as a temporary measure or to enable the patient to see how their teeth would look before having more permanent porcelain veneers placed.

How porcelain veneers are done

At the first appointment a layer of the tooth is removed to make room for the veneers. An impression is taken which is sent to a specialist laboratory which is used to custom-make the porcelain veneers. In between appointments, temporary veneers are made to cover the prepared teeth.

At the second appointment, the temporary veneers are removed and a mild chemical is placed on the teeth to make them a little rough. This helps the porcelain veneers stick to the teeth better. The porcelain veneers are then cemented to the teeth one by one, using composite resin cement.