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Porcelain Veneers (or 'Facings") have their origins in the film industry. Porcelain facings were first made in the 1920s and 1930s to fit over the natural teeth of actors and actresses. There was no way to actually glue the veneers onto the teeth back then, so they were temporarily placed for filming. As the procedure was meant to be temporary, it was important not to change the actual teeth beneath, but merely fit the veneers for the short period of time of filming.
The origins of the porcelain veneer explain its conservative nature today. Unlike a crown which totally envelopes a tooth and thus means the tooth may need to be significantly drilled down for the crown to fit over it, a porcelain veneer is instead placed primarily on the front of the tooth, and this involves very little re-shaping of the natural tooth it is adhered to. Once in place, the porcelain veneer can create the appearance of a much whiter or larger tooth. A well made porcelain veneer can easilly last 15-20 years.
Porcelain veneers are thus the ultimate aesthetic restoration. They are incredibly lifelike in appearance, they can dramatically change the appearance of a smile, they can last a long time, and they can achieve all of this with potentially little modification to the underlying tooth.
This lady presented with slightly discoloured teeth which had some spacing between them. Her teeth were healthy and did not have previous fillings, however she was wanting to improve the overall appearance of her smile. After discussing the options, she chose to have porcelain veneers
Porcelain veneers were placed on 8 of her upper teeth. The veneers were very thin, and involved very little modification to her underlying teeth. The treatment was conservative and the result was outstanding. These veneers will hold their colour and shine for many years to come
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This lady presented in her mid-twenties. Years before, she had a composite placed to restore the chipped corner of her right central incisor. The composite was also used to close a midline space and this made the incisor look too wide
This closeup photo shows the composite filling. As only one incisor was originally treated and made wider to close the space, the end result was that the two central incisors were no longer the same widths - as they should be. This created the assymetry in her smile
The decision was made to place a porcelain veneer on each of the two incisors, to make both slightly wider and thus to make them even in width. When provided at Specialist level, porcelain veneers can be indistiguisable from natural teeth
The final outcome is outstanding. The two central incisors are symmetrical and they perfectly blend into her smile. The result is highly aesthetic, functional and will be very long lasting
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In some instances,the amount of tooth movement needed with Orthodontics is small, and the patient may not always be able to wear the braces or be willing to wear a retainer. On occasion, porcelain veneers can be used to improve the smile instead.
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This case was completed with minimal adjustment to the natural tooth, but with a significant improvement in the overall smile by using perfectly made Porcelain veneers.
This patient was unhappy with the spacing between her teeth near the gum level, and the overall shape and colour of her teeth. She sought porcelain veneers but was concerned that they may damage her teeth.
In order to demonstrate what was possible, we performed a diagnostic mock-up on her teeth first. This simple, reversible, and painless process involved placing some composite onto her teeth to simulate what her new smile would look like, so she could see the end result before commencing treatment.
The final smile is beautiful and shows how perfect, yet natural, porcelain veneers can be.