What are dental veneers?

Dental veneers, introduced in 1983, are a relatively new technique that provides an excellent means of improving the look of discoloured teeth. They are a porcelain surface fitted to the face of a tooth, designed the match the mouth and enhance appearance. As such they are an alternative to other treatments, such as tooth bleaching or enamel bonding.

Dental veneers fall between the least invasive methods, such as bleaching and bonding, and more invasive methods, such as dental crowns. However, the degree of intervention represented by dental veneers is not the sole consideration when looking at this treatment. Compared to bleaching and bonding, veneers have some significant advantages. First, treating discolouration with bleaching or bonding is not a permanent solution to discolouration, while veneers retain their brightness for the duration of the veneer, and, given today's veneer materials, that's a long time.