Veneers

Veneers are thin ceramic facings that are placed over, generally, the upper six to eight front teeth to repair chips or rotations or discolored teeth to end up with a smile that the patient can be proud of. So a good candidate for dental veneers is someone who is unhappy with the appearance of their smile due to chipping of teeth, discolored teeth, worn, old dental restorations, and the like. How long a dental veneering procedure will last really depends on the materials that are used and the functional habits of the patient. And what I mean by that is if they're a heavy grinder or bruxers, they rub their teeth together a lot, the types of foods they eat. But in general, composite veneers will last from 7 to 10 years, and ceramic veneers can last anywhere from 12 to 15 to . . . I've had cases that are in their mouth for over 20 years. Can veneers be a permanent solution? Yes and no. If the teeth are unaltered prior to placing the veneers on, and there are cases like that, they're called no-prep veneers, then, actually, veneers can be completely reversible. But if the teeth have to be altered in order to make room for the veneers, then one has to consider that these veneers are permanent, meaning the patient will always have to have a veneer on that tooth. Now, veneers they have may last 15 to 20 years. But if the patient starts out with veneers at a relatively young age, they might have to expect that those veneers will have to be replaced at some point in time.