How Much Do Porcelain Veneers Cost?

Porcelain veneers are an excellent way to transform teeth. They can be used on misaligned, chipped, broken, discoloured and worn teeth to create a natural solution for a more attractive smile.They are used instead of composite veneers- a type of veneer where a composite material is shaped on the tooth to change the shape of the tooth.

The reason that porcelain veneers look superior to composite veneers is because of their translucency that mimics that of natural teeth. Our natural teeth are not completely opaque; they allow some light to pass through them. Porcelain veneers have this same translucent characteristic. If you have ever seen anybody with poorly executed composite veneers you will know that they can look very thick and too opaque, often having a similar appearance to false teeth.

Porcelain veneers are usually fitted over a number of stages. Firstly, the patients smile is analysed, and the things that need to be changed are determined. These changes may be computer imaged to provide the patient with an idea of how they could look.

Once the patient and cosmetic dentist agree on a particular plan the teeth are prepared for veneers. This involves the removal of a small amount of tooth structure, normally about the thickness of a fingernail.

The patient may be given a set of temporary veneers to wear that are the same size and appearance as the final permanent veneers. This is so that the patient can live with their new smile for a small amount of time and get used to the changes that their teeth will undergo. At this stage if the patient is not happy with the shape of any of the teeth, new ones can be created.

Not only can the shape and alignment of the teeth be changed, so too can the colour of the teeth be changed using veneers. For this reason it is a good idea to have teeth whitening procedures not long before getting veneers. This means that the veneers can be matched to the whitened teeth allowing a whiter smile. Were tooth whitening to be undertaken after the veneers had already been fitted the veneers would need to be replaced to match the whitened teeth.

Finally, the permanent veneers are fitted and your new smile is ready to be shown to the world!

Porcelain veneers are charged on a per tooth basis. That is, that the cost of treatment is determined by the number of teeth that need veneering.

Cost per tooth averages $600 to $1500US depending on the amount of preparation the tooth requires, the experience of the cosmetic dentist and the location of their office. Although it may only be necessary to do 1 veneer if a tooth is simply chipped or damaged, instant orthodontic effects often need up to 20 veneers. This is because only veneering the front few teeth often results in the patient looking as if they have no molars and does not achieve the desired "Hollywood smile" look.

One thing that needs to be considered is that veneers are irreversible. Once done they cannot ever be undone. Individual veneers can be replaced, but the teeth will no longer be able to be "natural" again as they will have been reduced in size during preparation. The other thing to take into account is that veneers have a life expectancy of 8-15 years. This means that the initial cost that you incur will need to be repeated on average about every 10 years. Some veneers may also fail before this. This ongoing expense should be taken into account and means that the final cost of veneers may be five times their original quote in the long term.