What are Porcelain Laminate Veneers?

Porcelain veneers (also referred to as dental laminates), are wafer-thin shells of porcelain that are bonded onto the front side of teeth.

They're generally about .5 to .6 mm thick. That's about  twice the thickness of an eggshell.

What are they used for?

The primary purpose for placing veneers is to improve the appearance of teeth.

They're routinely use as a way of making changes for those that are discolored, worn, chipped or malformed, have spaces between them or are slightly misaligned.

In most cases, placing them is an elective procedure.

How do porcelain veneers differ from dental crowns?

In comparison to crowns, porcelain veneers just cover over the front side of a tooth.

Porcelain veneers are wafer thin.

As alluded above, crowns and porcelain veneers differ by way of their comparative thickness.

  • Porcelain veneers are wafer thin, typically measuring 1 millimeter in thickness or less.
  • Dental crowns usually have a thickness of 2 millimeters or more.
Less tooth grinding is required.

This means that significantly less tooth trimming is required when veneers are placed.

A veneer just covers over the front side of a tooth.

  • Less reduction is needed on the tooth's front side, where the veneer is bonded.
  • No trimming is needed on the tooth's backside.
  • With some veneering techniques no tooth reduction is needed at all.

This is a very important feature of veneers. It means that, as compared to crowns, when they are place less healthy tooth structure is sacrificed. Additionally, the preparation process is less traumatic for the tooth (and possibly the patient too).