Smile Facts: Dental Veneers

Dental Veneers are a very thin outer shell of ceramic, or a poly-ceramic material placed on the tooth surface. Veneers are a conservative application of cosmetic dentistry where reducing or reshaping the natural tooth's structure is minimal. Veneers can however result in a very positive improvement to a person's smile.

Veneers were invented in the 1930s by a California dentist named Charles Pincus .  At the time, they fell off in a very short time as they were held on by denture adhesive. They were, however, useful for temporarily changing the appearance of movie actors and actresses teeth.

In 1982 research by Simonsen and Calamia  revealed that porcelain could be etched with hydrofluoric acid and bond strengths could be achieved between composite resins and porcelain that were predicted to be able to hold porcelain veneers on to the surface of a tooth permanently. This was confirmed by Calamia  in an article describing a technique for fabrication, and placement of Etched Bonded Porcelain Veneers using a refractory model technique and Horn  describing a platinum foil technique for veneer fabrication. Additional articles have proven the long term reliability of this technique.

The advances in cements and bonding agents will typically let veneers last 10-15 years. But patients who receive veneers should understand that they may only last 10-15 years and then may have to be replaced. This can be very expensive since porcelain veneers cost around $1,000 each in 2006 prices. They are said to be somewhat more durable and less likely to stain than veneers made of composite.

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