Dental Veneers in Tunbridge Wells — A Smile That Looks Like You, on a Good Day

A dental veneer is a thin, tooth-coloured shell fixed to the front surface of a tooth to change its colour, shape, size or position.

Veneers are made either from porcelain, custom-made in a laboratory and bonded on at a later appointment, or from composite resin, which is built up and shaped directly onto the tooth in a single visit.

Veneers cover the front of a tooth rather than replacing it. That makes them a cosmetic solution for teeth that are structurally sound but don't look how you'd like them to.

What problems do veneers fix?

• Discolouration that whitening won't shift. Some staining sits inside the tooth rather than on it — a single dark tooth after root canal treatment, greyish banding from tetracycline antibiotics taken in childhood, or a tooth that darkened after a knock. Whitening gel doesn't reach it. A veneer covers it.
• Chips and worn edges. Where an edge is broken or has worn short, a veneer restores the shape and the length.
• Gaps between teeth. Small to moderate spaces can be closed by making the teeth either side slightly wider.
• Teeth that are uneven in shape or size. Pointed lateral incisors, teeth smaller than the ones beside them, or a front tooth that sits a little differently from its neighbour.
• Mildly crooked teeth. Veneers can disguise slight irregularity — though where teeth are genuinely crowded, moving them with aligners is usually the better answer, and involves removing no tooth at all.

How many veneers will I need?

It depends on how many teeth show when you smile, not on how many are bothering you. Most people show six to ten upper teeth, and for an even result the veneers usually need to cover the ones that show as a group rather than stopping in the middle of a smile.

A single veneer is entirely possible where one tooth is damaged or discoloured, and is the most common case of all. It's also the hardest to match, because it has to sit convincingly next to your own teeth rather than being matched to a set.

Your smile line is photographed at the consultation and the number is agreed from that.

Am I suitable for veneers?

You're likely to be suitable if your teeth and gums are healthy, there's enough sound enamel for the veneers to bond to, and your bite doesn't put unusual force through your front teeth.

Veneers are usually not the right answer if:

• You have untreated decay or gum disease — these are treated first
• The tooth is heavily filled or root treated, in which case a crown is normally more appropriate
• You grind or clench heavily, which can chip porcelain — this doesn't rule veneers out, but a night guard becomes part of the plan
• Your teeth are significantly crooked, where straightening them first gives a better and more conservative result

Does having veneers hurt?

Preparing teeth for porcelain veneers is carried out under local anaesthetic, so you shouldn't feel pain during the appointment. Composite veneers frequently need no anaesthetic at all, because in many cases no tooth is removed.

Afterwards, temporary sensitivity to hot and cold is common for a few days to a few weeks while the teeth settle, particularly with porcelain. It usually fades. Tell us if it doesn't.

Usually, no — and this is the most important thing on this page. Fitting porcelain veneers normally requires removing a thin layer of enamel from the front of each tooth so the veneer sits flush rather than looking bulky. Enamel does not grow back. Once a tooth has been prepared, it will need a veneer or a crown on it for the rest of your life.

That is not a reason to avoid veneers. It is a reason to be certain before starting, and to understand three things:

• Replacement is expected, not exceptional. When a veneer eventually chips, wears or comes away, it is replaced rather than removed. Factor the cost of future replacements into the decision.
• The prepared tooth is more sensitive and more vulnerable. Enamel protects the tooth. With less of it, the tooth relies on the veneer being intact and well sealed.
• Less invasive options exist and should be considered first. Composite bonding often removes no tooth. Whitening removes none. Aligners remove none. If one of those solves your problem, it's the better starting point.

You will be asked to give informed consent in writing before any tooth is prepared, and that conversation will cover the risks as well as the result.

By starting from your face rather than from a catalogue. Shade is chosen against your skin tone, the whites of your eyes and the colour of the teeth further back that won't be veneered. Shape is set by your lip line, the width of your smile and the proportions of your existing teeth.

The details that make veneers look real are mostly the imperfect ones:

• Slight variation between teeth. Identical teeth read as artificial almost immediately. Real central incisors differ subtly from each other.
• Length that follows the lip. The edges of natural upper teeth broadly follow the curve of the lower lip when you smile. Flat, straight edges look manufactured.
• Translucency at the edge. Natural enamel is slightly see-through at the biting edge. Good porcelain reproduces that; a flat opaque white does not.
• A shade that suits your age. Teeth naturally darken over a lifetime. A shade that would look right at twenty can look startling at fifty-five, next to the same face.
• Texture. Natural teeth have fine surface texture that catches light. Polished-flat veneers look like a single object rather than a set of teeth.

You'll be shown the proposed shape and shade before anything is made, and you're expected to say if it isn't what you had in mind. Changing it at that stage is straightforward. Changing it after the veneers are cemented is not.

If what you want is a very white, very even result, you can have that — it's your smile and your decision. You'll just be told honestly how it will read, so you're choosing it rather than discovering it.

One appointment in most cases. The composite is applied directly to the tooth, shaped by hand, hardened with a light and polished. You go home with the finished result the same day. Appointments are long — expect to be in the chair for a while, particularly for several teeth.