Veneers & Crowns

Do you wish your teeth looked so much better?  Maybe they are heavily filled, chipped or broken. Veneers or crowns could well be your solution.

Veneers are used for the front faces of your incisors or canines and occasionally the sides of premolars when we want to widen out your smile if your back teeth aren't very visible.  They are made from porcelain by very skilled dental technicians and are bonded with dental adhesive resins to your tooth.  They normally last around ten years, though we have many which I placed 18 years ago still in service today for patients who have followed me from previous practices.

A porcelain veneer can mask the underlying tooth colour if it is a bit dark.  I also use them to change the size and shapes of the underlying teeth, and one very clever trick is altering the perceived position of a tooth which is sitting too far forward or back. Being one of the most challenging cosmetic treatments, it's really important to get a great dental team to work with – see our Recipe for great teethfor help on what you should be looking out for.

Be cautious about a practice that offers dramatic change in just two visits – this can only be done by skipping design, planning & testing stages and leaves you at the mercy of a technician's design for your new teeth.

Crowns are used if there has been more damage or larger fillings already exist in your tooth.  The definition between crowns and veneers is becoming ever more blurred as adhesive technology and porcelain material strength continues to improve, allowing us to make less aggressive tooth preparations and saving more of your natural tooth.  If your dentist is still doing the preparations taught in dental school years ago, you are not getting the best available treatment.

There is also a range of materials for different strength requirements which we will be happy to advise you on such as eMax, Zirconia, Porcelain Fused to Metal (PFM), LAVA and FMZir.