Porcelain veneers commonly last ten to fifteen years, and the lovely thing is how little of that number comes down to luck. What shortens a veneer is the same short list of things that shortens a natural tooth, which means you already know most of how to keep yours.
How Long Do Porcelain Veneers Last, and Composite Ones?
Here’s the straight answer. Porcelain veneers commonly last ten to fifteen years. Composite veneers last fewer years. And when either one reaches the end of its years, it’s replaced rather than repaired, so the life of a veneer is the life of one thin shell, while the tooth underneath carries on.
Now, ten to fifteen years is a long time when you stop and picture it. A veneer fitted this winter can still be on the tooth when a child starting school this year is sitting their GCSEs. That’s a lot of photos, a lot of dinners out, and a lot of laughing without a single thought about your teeth.
So where does a particular veneer land inside that range? Well, part of the answer is decided before the veneer is even made. At Widney Dental, the interests of Dr Hayley Freedman (GDC 252053) are minimal intervention and restorative dentistry, and that’s the frame of mind a veneer should be planned in: the least tooth removed for the result you want. You see, a veneer is bonded to your own tooth, and it holds best on enamel, so the more of your own enamel that stays, the better the veneer holds on through all those years.
Why Does Porcelain Last Longer Than Composite?
Think of a china plate and a plastic one. The plastic plate picks up little scratches and the colour of last night’s curry; the china plate comes out of the cupboard looking the way it always did. Veneers are a bit like that.
Porcelain is a ceramic, made by a dental laboratory to your dentist’s prescription. It resists stains better and reflects light the way enamel does, which is why it looks the most like a natural tooth, and why it keeps looking that way for longer. Composite is a tooth-coloured resin, closer to the material of a white filling. It’s thinner, quicker and cheaper, and it needs less of the tooth surface removed before it goes on. The trade is that it marks and wears sooner.
So which suits you comes down to the tooth, the result you want, and how long you want it to last, and that’s a conversation with your dentist. Some people would rather have the lighter touch now. Others want the change that holds for a decade and more.
What Shortens the Life of a Veneer?
Here’s the part people find reassuring. What shortens veneers is what damages teeth: biting hard things, grinding, and gums left uncleaned at the edges. Every item on that list is something you’d steer clear of for your natural teeth anyway.
The hard things are the ones you half know about already. Nails, pen tops and ice shorten the life of any veneer, as they do a natural tooth. Why? Because those are the moments a front tooth gets used as a tool: a sharp, narrow force pressing on one small edge, which is just where a chip starts. A veneer sits on the front of the tooth, so it feels those moments exactly as your enamel would.
Grinding is the quiet one, because it happens while you sleep. Hours of teeth pressing and sliding against each other at night add up to wear, on a veneer just as on enamel, and you’re asleep for all of it. The answer is simple: a night guard, worn in bed, protects the work if you grind, because the guard takes the grinding instead of the veneers. At Widney Dental a nightguard for grinding is £135 privately, which is a small figure to set beside the teeth it looks after.
And then there are the edges. Where a veneer meets your tooth, right by the gum, the tooth is still your own tooth, with your own gum around it, and that’s where plaque likes to settle. Left uncleaned, the gum along that edge gets sore and inflamed, and that’s the slow way a veneer loses its years.
Can You Eat Normally With Veneers?
Yes, and this one surprises people who’d pictured a life of soup and mashed potato. A veneer is bonded to the tooth, and people eat normally with veneers: breakfast, a sandwich at your desk, a crisp apple, a proper dinner out.
The things to leave alone are the ones from the list above. Ice, nails, pen tops, the lid of something stubborn you’d be tempted to open with your teeth. Curious, isn’t it? They’re exactly the things a dentist would ask you to leave alone with your own teeth, so having veneers changes very little about how you eat. A veneer is made to be lived with.
How Do You Make Veneers Last as Long as Possible?
Kept clean at the edges and seen at every check-up. That’s the whole recipe, and it’s the same recipe as for the rest of your mouth.
At home, a veneer is brushed and flossed like the tooth it covers. The floss earns its keep at the edges, because that’s where the veneer, your tooth and your gum all meet.
Then there’s the check-up, which sees what you can’t. A check-up here looks at your teeth, your gums and the soft tissues of your mouth, and at every check-up your veneers are looked at too, edges and all. A routine check-up at Widney Dental is £45 privately, and most people come every six to twelve months, which lets the dentist catch anything in good time. You can read what a visit covers on the check-ups page.
The hygienist is the other half. Plaque you miss hardens into tartar, and tartar can’t be brushed off. The hygienist scales it away above and just below the gum line, which is exactly where the edge of a veneer sits, then polishes the teeth smooth so plaque has less to cling to. A hygienist visit here is £64 privately, and for a veneer it’s a bit like the service on a car you’d like to keep for years.
What’s the Catch With Veneers?
There’s one, and it’s good to know it before you start. A porcelain veneer needs a thin layer of enamel taken from the front of the tooth, so the shell sits neatly in line with its neighbours, and that part is done under local anaesthetic. Enamel does not grow back, so that tooth will always need covering from then on.
For a small change, that’s a poor trade. If all you’d really like is a lighter shade, whitening lightens your own enamel and takes none of it away, and the consultation says plainly whether a veneer, a crown, whitening or a filling is the right thing for the tooth. For a lasting change to a sound front tooth, though, a veneer is the right tool. That’s why the planning starts from the least tooth removed for the result you want, and why composite, which needs less of the tooth taken away than porcelain, is part of the same conversation.
What Happens When a Veneer Needs Replacing?
When the time comes, a veneer is replaced rather than repaired. The old shell comes off, and a new one is made for the same tooth by the laboratory, to your dentist’s prescription, just as the first one was. The tooth underneath was shaped to carry a veneer the first time, so it carries the new one in the same place.
So this is where all those years pay you back. Ten to fifteen years from one porcelain veneer means replacing it is something that comes round once in a long while, and a tooth that’s been kept clean at the edges and seen at every check-up is a tooth that’s ready for it.
A porcelain veneer at Widney Dental is £400 – £500 a tooth, and the figure for your own tooth is written down at the consultation before anything starts. There’s more on what sets that figure in our post on how much veneers cost.
Can You Whiten Veneers?
No, and this is the one place where timing really counts. Porcelain and composite keep the shade they were made in. Whitening works on your own enamel, and a veneer simply stays the colour the laboratory made it, which is why whitening comes before veneers, never after, and the veneers are matched to the lighter shade.
The happy side of that is a veneer’s colour holds steady, year after year, which is a big part of what makes porcelain the choice for the long term. Your own teeth do the drifting, slowly, with tea and coffee. So if you’re whitening first, it’s well worth knowing how long teeth whitening lasts, because keeping your own teeth at that shade keeps them matched with the veneers beside them.
Thinking About Veneers?
So, ten to fifteen years from porcelain, fewer from composite, and the years kept by the ordinary things: clean edges, a night guard if you grind, and a check-up where someone looks. It’s a lovely thing to know going in, because it means a veneer is something you live with easily, every day, the same way you live with your own teeth.
If you’re weighing veneers up, the veneers page sets out what a veneer fixes, when a crown or whitening is the better answer, how the visits run, and the prices. The consultation is where your dentist tells you plainly which is right for your tooth, and the figure is written down before anything starts. We’re at 76 Widney Road in Knowle, open Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 6pm and Friday 8.30am to 5pm; book online or call 01564 773080.
