Veneers and Bonding: What’s the Difference?

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Bonding is ideal for an emergency repair of a fractured tooth or for a minor correction of a tooth contour, but veneers of porcelain 16 are stronger and longer-lasting. Bonding is done in a single visit, where a veneer requires two sessions. First, the enamel is removed from the tooth, and impressions of the prepared tooth are made and given to the laboratory technicians. The porcelain veneers are then baked in a furnace for strength. Then they are returned to the dentist for installation on the natural teeth. (The patient generally wears temporary veneers during the fabrication period which can take from several days to several weeks. If the lab is in-house, the turnaround time is quicker than if it has to be sent out in the mail.)

Veneers are porcelain. Bonding is done with composite resign which stains over time. With veeners, you need the whole tooth covered. If it’s just a corner that needs to be fixed, we can do bonding, but it will stain over time. With veneers, we usually do it in two steps or visits and have to shave down the original tooth.

A veneer is a front facing, like a cabinet door; it covers the whole front of the tooth. Some people will say they don’t want to have veneers placed because they don’t want to have their actual teeth cut back (we have to cut back a little of the front tooth if we are changing color and shape); but we can do the same thing with bonding material. There is a technique used called a no-prep veneer, which is an ultra-thin veneer made with porcelain that we can use. Porcelain lasts longer and doesn’t stain. Some composites will break down over time and stains can get imbedded into the composite.  Usually we don’t cover the entire tooth surface with bonding, but it can be done, if that is what the patient wants.

They are a nice way to fix chipped teeth non-invasively; however, bonding can’t fix teeth with vertical fractures in them.  Bonding is a less permanent way to fix the teeth, you usually only get 3 to 5 years with them, but it’s a quick fix with one dental visit. Veneers are now thin and can last from 5 to 20 years, so they are a more of a permanent solution and provide a more protective structure for teeth because it covers the whole tooth so the nerves are protected.  Bonding does stain where veneers don’t.

Dental bonding and porcelain veneers are two different ways to achieve a similar result. Typically, veneers and/or bonding are used to correct misaligned, discolored, and chipped/broken teeth. Anywhere from a single tooth to many teeth can be covered with veneers or bonding. The color can be made whiter, shape restored to beauty, and a new, beautiful smile can be created.

A veneer is a porcelain facing that is bonded to the front, visible surface of a tooth. Usually the tooth is prepared .5-1mm on the front surface, and a porcelain veneer is then bonded to the tooth to transform how it looks. Often, 8-10 veneers are done on a single arch (top or bottom) to create a completely new, rejuvenated smile. Most veneers are custom made in a dental laboratory by a skilled technician so that they can be made to be as perfect and beautiful as possible. If bonded correctly, veneers can last anywhere from 10-25 years or more!

Cosmetic bonding, while achieving a similar end goal to veneers, is a different process. For bonding, the tooth/teeth are typically lightly prepared by roughening the visible surface, and then a new visible surface is built up using composite, the same material used for white fillings. As with veneers, a single tooth can be bonded, or multiple teeth bonded to transform a smile. Unlike a veneer that is made by a lab technician outside the mouth, bonding is placed by the dentist inside the mouth and then shaped with a drill inside the mouth. Bonding is typically much more difficult to make ideal. In addition, bonding can discolor over time and is much more delicate than porcelain. Cosmetic bonding usually lasts from 5-10 years, and is most often replaced because it does not hold up cosmetically.

Thus, veneers are a much longer, more stable way to beautify a smile as they do not change color and are more robust porcelain. While bonding tends to not last as long and can stain over time, usually bonding is chosen over veneers because of cost, however when considering the 10-20 year prognosis, the costs end up being similar.

Source: New Beauty

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