Teeth whitening / Dental bonding / Orthodontic treatment : Alternatives that may provide a more conservative solution than having porcelain veneers placed.

Most of the sets of porcelain veneers that are placed are done so primarily for the purpose of making a cosmetic change in the appearance of the patient's teeth and smile. Some of these aesthetic-based applications include:

Lightening the color of teeth. Idealizing the overall shape and contours of teeth. Improving the apparent alignment of a patient's teeth. Closing tooth spacing.

Porcelain veneers are not the only treatment approach that can resolve these issues.

For each of these types of changes, there is typically an alternative dental treatment that could be chosen in lieu of porcelain veneers that could be expected to make the same general type of cosmetic enhancement. And each of these alternative treatments might, in some instances, provide a more conservative treatment approach. The conservatism being measure in either reduced treatment cost, a minimization of tooth trauma or tooth structure loss, or providing a treatment outcome that has a longer expected longevity.

Every dental approach will have its own advantages and disadvantages.

It is important to state, however, that these same porcelain veneer alternatives may have issues or factors associated with them that make them an unacceptable treatment choice for a patient. Some of these include:

The treatment might not offer as much control and predictability over the case's aesthetic outcome that the patient desires. When compared to veneering technique, the time frame required for the treatment alternative may simply be too extended. The alternative treatment may involve factors that the patient feels are too inconvenient to tolerate.

Considering all treatment options is a smart move.

Our concern, as expressed on these pages, is not so much that porcelain veneers are a right or wrong approach. That decision must be made by the treating dentist and only after they have had an opportunity to perform an examination of the prospective patient. But in those cases where placing porcelain veneers is an appropriate option, choosing veneers can only be considered to be a best treatment option after it has been compared (in terms of advantages, disadvantages, risks, relative costs) to all other available approaches that can provide a similar treatment outcome.

What are some of the alternatives to placing porcelain veneers?

Listed below are some of the types of alternatives to placing porcelain veneers that your dentist will have to offer. As can be expected, and as we have tried to outline in our text, all of them possess their own particular strengths and weaknesses.

In-office or at-home teeth whitening treatments Orthodontic treatment (braces) Tooth bonding / Composite veneers / Tooth recontouring

A "perfect" smile really may not be what you want.

In many instances, it could be said that using these alternatives might make it difficult to predictably producing an end result that is as cosmetically perfect as that that can be created by placing a set of porcelain veneers. We would agree with this statement. However, if you think that that is necessarily a "bad thing," then you might find our page "Why don't perfect smiles look natural?" of interest.