Porcelain veneers - dental veneers or porcelain laminates

What are Porcelain Veneers ?
Porcelain veneers are wafer thin shells of porcelain, specially shaped which are 'bonded' (cemented) onto the front side of teeth. Usually on the front teeth which are exposed during a smile or eating.

When are porcelain veneers used ?
Mostly, dental veneers are used to cover up crooked, stained, misaligned, chipped or otherwise slightly disfigured front teeth.
This can be purely for cosmetic purposes but also to straighten an irregular bite line and servers as a smaller measure than filing away the teeth for new crowns.
Quite often, veneers are inserted to close up gaps between teeth closing (diastemas = space between teeth) and can also be used instead of braces for teeth that are only slightly misaligned .
In a nutshell, veneers can improve the look of your teeth.

When are porcelain veneers fitted ?
First the dentist would file your crooked teeth, or / and clean them properly. This would be done with chemicals to achieve a clean surface for a durable bond.
Then a cast is taken. Then the veneers are made by the lab
Lastly the porcelain veneers are cemented onto the original teeth.
This is done with dental glue placed both on the tooth and onto the veneer and after the veneer has been fitted and stuck onto the tooth, the glue or cement is hardened by using a special light beam.

What are the advantages of porcelain veneers ?
A major component of teeth is enamel, it is not solid enamel.
The enamel component of a tooth is actually only an outer shell.
Cosmetic dental bonding materials utilized in the past were susceptible to staining and discolouring.
This was especially a problem for those people whose teeth had excessive exposure to tea, coffee, red wine, or cigarette smoking.
A significant advantage of porcelain veneers over other types of cosmetic dental bonding is related to the fact that a porcelain veneer's surface is just that, porcelain.
Since porcelain is a ceramic, and therefore glass-like, its surface is extremely smooth and impervious.
This means that the surface of a porcelain veneer will not pick up permanent stains. So Porcelain veneers resist staining.

Also veneers are translucent and do not immediately reflect light which gets reflected by the underneath tooth enamel, and this gives the veneered teeth a very real original toothy look.

Last but not least, with veneers the dentists needs to file away much less of the original tooth than with crowns... so veneers offer a life-like, almost real tooth covering on top of your original stained or crooked teeth.

What are the disadvantages of porcelain veneers ?
Veneers can crack or split and are nowhere near as reliable as porcelain crowns but cost almost as much

How long can a veneer last ?
Porcelain Veneers - if fitted onto almost perfectly shaped teeth with no gaps can last from ten years to fifteen years and more.
If place onto very crooked teeth they can split or crack anytime.

How much can porcelain veneers cost in the Czech Republic ?
Between Euro 172 to Euro 190 per veneer (for one tooth)
Elsewhere in Europe the cost can vary between Euro 1000 to Euro 2500 for one single veneer.