The short version
- The dentist prepares and places. A ceramist builds the porcelain by hand.
- The ceramist never sees your mouth, only what is sent with the case.
- Stick bites, photographs, bite registrations and mountings carry that information.
- An incomplete case means the ceramist guesses, and guesses show on a front tooth.
- Composite skips this stage entirely, which is the whole difference between the materials.
- Made by
- A ceramist
- Made for
- One patient
- Lab time
- 2 to 4 weeks
- Composite
- No lab stage
The result of a porcelain veneer case depends on two people, and patients usually only meet one of them.
The dentist prepares the teeth, takes the impression and places the finished veneers. The veneers themselves are built by a ceramist at a dental laboratory, by hand, for one patient. Skill at either end is not enough on its own.
What the lab needs
A ceramist is building teeth for a mouth they will never see. Everything they know about that mouth arrives with the case.
That includes stick bites, photographs, bite registrations and mountings. Each one carries information the veneers depend on:
- Where your midline sits relative to your face, not relative to a plaster model
- How your teeth meet when you bite
- What the surrounding natural teeth look like, and how light falls on them
- How the upper teeth relate to the lower lip when you smile
Send an incomplete case and the ceramist has to guess. The veneers come back technically well made and slightly wrong, and slightly wrong is visible on a front tooth from conversational distance.
This is why communication between dentist and lab decides as much as either one’s technique.
Why porcelain goes to a lab and composite does not
Porcelain veneers are made at the lab for every patient. They last longer, they resist staining, and more preparation is needed before fitting. The lab stage is why there is a wait between the two appointments.
Composite veneers are built directly onto the tooth in the chair, usually in one appointment. No lab, no wait, less preparation, lower cost. They do not last as long and they are not stain resistant.
That single difference, whether the material is made off-site or shaped in the mouth, drives the entire comparison between the two. The rest is in porcelain and composite veneers compared.
Nothing is permanent until you have seen it
The veneers are tried in before they are bonded. Shape and shade are checked with them in place, in daylight, against the teeth around them. A veneer can be trimmed, and the shade of the cement makes the final small correction.
If something is wrong, it goes back. That costs time, which is the argument for sending a complete case the first time.
Worth asking any practice
Two questions, fair to ask anywhere:
- Who makes the veneers or crowns, and where?
- What information does the lab get with the case?
A practice that answers both easily has a relationship with a ceramist it trusts. That relationship is invisible in the marketing and it is a large part of what you are paying for.
More on what to ask before choosing is in how to choose a cosmetic dentist.
Seeing the output
The work is in the gallery, photographed before and after.
Sarasota Smile Design is on Clark Road in Sarasota, serving Sarasota, Nokomis, Osprey and Venice. Open Monday to Thursday, 8am to 4pm.
Call 941-927-5411, or see porcelain veneers.
