Porcelain veneers typically last 10 to 15 years and often longer. Composite veneers typically last 5 to 7 years before they need refreshing or replacing. Both last longer if you keep your gums healthy, avoid using your front teeth as tools, and wear a night guard if you grind.

Composite veneers and bonding usually need no anaesthetic at all, because nothing is drilled. Where porcelain veneers need enamel preparation, the tooth is numbed first and you should not feel the procedure. Some sensitivity to hot and cold for a few days afterwards is normal and settles. If you are anxious about treatment, tell us — we treat a lot of nervous patients and we go at your pace.

Composite veneers can usually be removed or adjusted without lasting change to the tooth. Porcelain veneers usually involve removing a small amount of enamel, and that part is permanent — the tooth will need a veneer or crown on it from then on. We will tell you exactly how much preparation your case needs before you decide.

Yes. Our Same Day Smile route uses digital scanning and in-house milling to design, make and fit porcelain veneers in a single appointment, with no impressions and no temporary veneers to wear in between. Whether your case suits a single visit depends on how many teeth are involved and how much preparation is needed.

Almost always, yes. Veneers and bonding are matched to the shade of the teeth around them, and whitening will not lighten them afterwards. Whitening first sets your base shade so everything matches once the work is done.

Bonding repairs or reshapes part of a tooth — a chipped edge, a gap, a short tooth. A veneer covers the whole visible front surface. Bonding is quicker and cheaper for one or two problem teeth; veneers give a more complete and consistent change across several teeth at once. Both use the same materials family; the difference is coverage.

Not always, but it is worth asking. If teeth are noticeably crowded or rotated, moving them with Invisalign first means less enamel has to be removed for veneers — and sometimes it means veneers are no longer needed at all. We will tell you honestly which applies to you.

Brush twice a day, clean between your teeth daily, and keep your hygiene appointments — cosmetic work fails at the gum line long before it fails in the middle. Cut down on the things that stain composite, particularly red wine, coffee, tea and smoking. Do not bite your nails or open packaging with your front teeth. If you grind at night, wear the guard we make you.

A veneer cannot replace a missing tooth — there is nothing to bond it to. Replacing a missing tooth means a dental implant, a bridge or a denture, and we can then match the cosmetic work around it. See our missing teeth page.

No. It is one of the most common things we hear, and it is one of the reasons this practice is set up the way it is. We will look at where things are, tell you what we would do, and let you decide. Nothing happens in the same appointment as the conversation unless you want it to.

Yes. We offer 0% and low-interest options through Chrysalis Finance, so treatment can be spread monthly. You can model the repayments on the finance calculator before you come in.