Dental veneers are very thin layer of material placed on a tooth to correct its shape or its colour. The materials used by dentists are either porcelain or composite. But how thin are veneers really?

It is important to note out that there are several types of porcelains that may be used in dentistry to restore teeth. There are also different types of composites. Depending of the material used, veneers can have a thickness from 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm, or even more depending on how much correction a tooth needs.

In perspective, contact lenses have a thickness of 30 to 10 micrometers (0.03 to 0.1 mm). Thefore dental veneers are much more thick than contact lenses in the miniature world.

If a tooth is highly discoloured, 0.3 mm might not be enough for a veneer to correct the colour. Research suggests that 0.8 mm is required for masking severe tooth discolouration, including a 0.4 mm core and 0.4 mm veneer.

Also, for patients who suffer from bruxism (teeth grinding), thicker layers of porcelain are required for veneers not to break.

References

  1. Niloofar Shadman, Saeideh Gorji Kandi, Shahram Farzin Ebrahimi, and Maryam Azizi Shoul, The minimum thickness of a multilayer porcelain restoration required for masking severe tooth discoloration, Dent Res J (Isfahan). 2015 Nov-Dec; 12(6): 562–568.

The information above should be used as a reference only. Any medical decision should not be taken before consulting a health care professional.

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