£800 a tooth in porcelain, or £720 for plan members. Start with a consultation.

A veneer covers the front surface of a tooth and nothing else, which is why it can alter colour, shape and apparent position while removing only a fraction of what a crown would take.

We work in both porcelain and composite. Which suits you depends on how much change you want and how long you want it to last.

A shell of porcelain or composite, typically 0.3 to 0.5mm thick, bonded onto the front of the tooth.

They deal with discolouration that whitening will not touch, chipped edges, small gaps, uneven lengths and teeth that sit slightly out of line — though genuine crowding is better treated by moving the teeth than by covering them.

• Made individually in a dental laboratory
• Will not stain the way composite eventually does
• Light passes through them much as it does through enamel
• A thin layer of enamel has to be removed, so it is not reversible
• Ten to fifteen years, often longer — £800 each, £720 on the plan

• Sculpted directly onto the tooth
• Usually finished in one appointment
• Considerably cheaper than porcelain
• Repairable if it chips, rather than needing replacing
• Five to seven years before it wants redoing

1. Consultation — what you want changed, and whether veneers are genuinely the right way to do it.
2. Preparation — for porcelain, a thin layer of enamel comes off and impressions are taken.
3. Temporaries — worn while the laboratory works, so you are never left with prepared teeth on show.
4. Bonding — each veneer tried in first, checked with you, then bonded.
5. Finishing — margins polished and the bite checked properly.

Worth saying plainly: preparing a tooth for a porcelain veneer cannot be undone. That is why we spend time at the consultation making sure it is what you actually want.

What shortens them is grinding and biting hard things, not ordinary wear. If you grind, we will make you a nightguard — it costs a fraction of replacing a set of veneers.

Veneers work well if you want to:

• Change the colour of teeth that whitening will not shift
• Close small gaps
• Repair chipped or worn edges
• Even up length and shape across the front teeth

They are the wrong answer for teeth with significant decay, active gum disease or real crowding. Covering a crooked tooth with porcelain does not straighten it — orthodontics first gives a far better result, and often means fewer veneers afterwards.