Do you have chips, gaps, or other cosmetic flaws in your teeth? These kinds of issues can easily be addressed by an experienced cosmetic dentist. Two solutions your dentist may suggest are porcelain veneers and dental bonding.
Veneers and bonding address many of the same dental cosmetic issues. However, they have distinct differences in price, durability, application process, and other factors. When you visit Metropolitan Dental Care, our Denver dentists will go over your options with you and help you decide which is right.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of the differences between porcelain veneers and dental bonding:
Porcelain Veneers
Veneers are thin pieces of porcelain that are attached to the front surface of teeth. They are custom-made in a dental laboratory so that they fit perfectly. Porcelain veneers address such issues as large gaps, chips, discoloration, and overlap of the teeth.
Advantages of Veneers
- Durability: Porcelain veneers last for around 15 years or more. They are highly resistant to staining, chipping, and breaking.
- Appearance: Veneers look realistic and will be color-matched to the rest of your teeth. And since they’re stain-resistant, they’ll help keep your smile white.
- Tooth’s structural integrity: Veneers require a bit of enamel to be removed before placement. This weakens a tooth’s natural structural integrity and means that the tooth will always need to be covered by a veneer.
- Process: Between measuring your mouth, preparing the teeth, fabricating the veneers in a lab, and placing the veneers, the process of receiving veneers takes a few weeks. You may have to come into the office several times to complete treatment.
- Cost: Veneers tend to be more costly than bonding.
Disadvantages of Veneers
Dental Bonding
Bonding is the application of a composite resin to a tooth. The resin, made to match tooth color, is applied using an adhesive and a special light. Dental bonding can address small chips and gaps, as well as misshapen teeth, minor stains, and exposed roots.
Advantages of Bonding
- Process: Dental bonding is a relatively quick process. To correct minor flaws, bonding may be the way to go.
- Tooth structure: Unlike dental veneers, bonding doesn’t require invasive tooth preparation before application.
- Cost: In most cases, dental bonding costs less than porcelain veneers.
- Durability: The composite resin used for dental bonding is weaker than porcelain, thus more prone to chips and cracks.
- Longevity: Bonding only lasts for up to 10 years.
Disadvantages of Bonding
Contact Our Denver Cosmetic Dentists
Don’t settle for a smile with cosmetic flaws. At Metropolitan Dental Care, our experienced cosmetic dentists can examine your teeth and recommend a solution to give you the smile of your dreams. Contact our Denver dentists’ office today by calling 303-534-2626 to learn more about our cosmetic dentistry options.
