Are porcelain veneers usually the best choice? Are there (more conservative) alternatives to having veneers placed?

Porcelain veneers are a proven technique that can produce an aesthetically superior and durable end result. This does not, however, mean that a decision to have veneers placed should be entered into blindly. Porcelain veneer placement has many consequences. And because of this, some alternative yet cosmetically similar dental procedures may provide a better, more conservative, approach for some patients.

Examples of these costs.

As a first example of what we mean, take a look at the obvious. Every set of porcelain veneers will have a price associated with it, which can be substantial. And it is likely that this cost will be a reoccurring expenditure.

Even when electing to use the (overly) optimistic (probably unrealistic) estimate of a twenty-year life span for a set of porcelain veneers, any patient will have to conclude that there will be a point in their lifetime when their porcelain veneers will need to be replaced. A forty-year old can expect that their veneers will need to be replaced at least once and quite probably two or more times during their life. For a twenty-year old, this need translates into an expected three or more veneerings.

Besides cost, there is also a potential repair and maintenance factor that must be considered. Veneers can chip, break or come off. And if one does, of course it always happens at the most inopportune moment. And although a damaged porcelain veneer may be patched or temporized immediately, its replacement will take the same number of visits and the same time frame as its initial placement (at least several days, possibly as much as two weeks).

The long-term health of a patient's teeth must also be considered. Even though the placement of porcelain veneers can generally be considered to be safe enough to be an elective procedure, unexpected problems do sometimes present themselves. Placing porcelain veneers can cause tooth trauma and typically does result in the loss of at least some tooth structure. Because periodically a replacement set of veneers will likely be need, the cumulative effect of these events might become an issue.

These are just considerations and not necessarily reasons not to have porcelain veneers placed.

You shouldn't necessarily be put off by the fact that these considerations exist. They by no means suggest that choosing porcelain veneers can't be a good, or even the best, choice for a patient. But since the primary purpose for placing porcelain veneers is typically a purely cosmetic one, it just makes good sense that all other, possibly more conservative, treatment approaches that might be expected to create a similar aesthetic change should be considered.