Dental Veneer

The ‘before’ intra oral dental photograph shows a discoloured upper right incisor. The ‘after’ intra oral photo shows the same tooth once it has been restored with a porcelain veneer. These restorations are thin shells of porcelain bonded to the front of the teeth. They are one of the options for restoring discoloured, worn, chipped or misaligned teeth. On the first visit the tooth is prepared by the dentist carefully removing a small layer of surface enamel and a silicone impression taken. On the second return visit, once the veneer has been fabricated it is then adhered to the tooth with bonding cement. An advantage of porcelain veneers over composite veneers is that they are more resistant to staining. The surface of a porcelain veneer is smooth ‘glass-like’ and impervious and thus will not pick up permanent stains as can happen with composite veneers with excessive exposure to tea, coffee, red wine or cigarette smoking. A life like appearance of the restored tooth can be achieved since the translucency of the ‘glass like’ porcelain veneer is similar to that of the original enamel coloured tooth. Porcelain veneers are one of the options for cosmetic dentistry. Discoloured teeth can sometimes be managed by tooth whitening depending on the extent of the discolouration.