Bonding vs. Veneers: The Experts Weigh In

You’re tired of hiding your smile.

You don’t want to cover your mouth when you laugh or hide your teeth with your lips when you smile. You do want to walk into a room with confidence.

But there’s a problem: Your smile.

Thankfully, in today’s world, you have multiple options to fix your smile. Two of the most popular techniques are bonding and veneers. Both have pros and cons — read on to see how the experts here at Silicon Valley Dental Associates break down how they compare.

What’s bonding?

With dental bonding, we use a soft resin to fix a tooth with a small chip or other dental flaw. The resin is the same color as your tooth and is applied like a thick putty, then molded into shape. A special high-intensity light hardens the resin and bonds it to the tooth.

The idea behind bonding is the resin covers the damage to the tooth so it appears normal and healthy. It’s a minimally invasive procedure usually done in one visit. Anesthesia isn’t necessary, there’s no downtime afterward, and it’s less expensive than other cosmetic procedures.

What are veneers?

Veneers are super-thin porcelain shells that cover the front surface of your teeth. They’re custom-made to match your teeth and then affixed with a dental adhesive.

The process requires two office visits: At the first visit, we take impressions of your teeth and send them off for the veneers to be custom-made. You get a temporary set of veneers to wear until the real ones are ready — they’re fitted on your second visit.

For the best fit, your dentist uses a tool to remove some enamel from the fronts of your teeth. The rougher texture helps the veneers adhere better.

Veneers give your teeth a natural-looking sheen that bonding can’t achieve. Plus, the porcelain doesn’t stain, allowing you to enjoy a beautiful, uniform smile.

Which should you choose?

As with so many things, the answer is: It depends. Bonding is a better option to make small fixes to one or two teeth. With bonding, you can change the shape of a tooth, improve the appearance of a tooth, close small gaps, and even fill a filling.

Veneers are a better option for patients looking to make more dramatic changes to their smiles. These changes can be due to discoloration and staining, cracked or chipped teeth, large gaps between teeth, and worn, overlapping, or crooked teeth.

If you want to know more about bonding and veneers or have other questions about improving your smile, the team at Silicon Valley Dental Associates can help. To make an appointment, call our Sunnyvale, California, office or use our online scheduler today.