What is the Dental veneers procedure?

This takes the form of two stages which are:

Stage 1

An initial consultation which includes a thorough examination of your teeth and preparation of your tooth/teeth.

This involves the dentist reshaping the front of the tooth, or teeth to be treated. The dentist will give you a local anaesthetic to numb the area before using a small drill to shave off a small part of the tooth.

This small area will be equivalent to the size and shape of the veneer.

This is followed by the dentist taking an ‘impression’ of your mouth: he or she will place a tray in front of you which contains a special dental wax. He or she will ask you to bite down into this wax so that it leaves an imprint of your teeth.

This impression or mould is then sent to a dental laboratory where a technician will make a cast from it. This is necessary for the production of the final veneers and can take several weeks to do so.
You may be fitted with some temporary veneers whilst waiting for the permanent ones.

Stage 2

Once these are ready you will revisit the dentist for the final fitting. He or she will fit these onto your teeth to check the positioning and how they look, overall with your smile.

Once your dentist is happy with this, he or she will take these off: he or she will carefully clean the teeth to be treated before etching the surface with an acidic gel which helps with the permanent attachment.

The dentist will use a special dental cement to stick the veneers in place. He or she will also use a ‘curing light’ which stimulates the cement so that it hardens and forms a solid attachment between tooth and veneer.

Any excess cement is trimmed away and the teeth are given a final polish.

Single visit veneers

Veneers are usually fitted in two stages but it is possible to have them fitted in a single visit. Some dentists have purpose built CAD ceramic studios or CEREC which can produce personalised ceramic veneers in the one day.

For patients, this can mean having a veneer fitted in little more than an hour.

To learn more visit our CEREC Restorations section.

Dental Veneers Guide Index:

• Veneers Introduction
• What are veneers made of?
• What can veneers treat?
• Why veneers?
• What is the veneers procedure?
• How long do Veneers last?

• What can go wrong with Veneers?
• Are there different types of veneers?
  • Lumineers
  • Da Vinci Veneers
• Are dental grills the same as veneers