Veneers · aftercare
Looking after your veneers
Veneers need the same cleaning as natural teeth plus attention to the edge where they meet your own tooth, because that join is where a problem starts. Avoid biting hard things with your front teeth, mention grinding, and keep your check-ups.
The first few days
- Go easy on staining food and drink for a day or two, particularly with composite. Coffee, tea, red wine, curry and anything deeply coloured.
- Do not bite hard things with your front teeth. Not ice, not pens, not packets, not fingernails. Front teeth are for cutting, not for opening.
- Expect them to feel bulky. Your tongue will find them constantly for a few days and then stop noticing.
- Some cold sensitivity is normal where a tooth was prepared, and it settles.
- Tender gums settle too, particularly where the work sits close to the gum line. Keep cleaning gently rather than avoiding the area.
What decides how long they last?
The margin. Every veneer has a join where the material meets your own tooth, and that line is where plaque collects, where staining shows first on composite, and where decay starts if it is not cleaned properly. Looking after veneers is mostly about looking after that line.
So the routine matters more after cosmetic work, not less. Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and clean between your teeth, paying attention at the gum line rather than skating over it. If you use floss, slide it out sideways at the gum rather than snapping it up past the edge of a veneer.
The other two factors are your bite and whether you grind. Both are things your dentist can see and you cannot, which is the practical argument for keeping your check-ups rather than assuming the work is finished.
What is normal and what is not?
Normal: feeling bulky for a few days, mild cold sensitivity where a tooth was prepared, tender gums for a short while, and slightly altered speech that settles as your tongue adjusts.
Ring us: a sharp edge you keep catching with your tongue or lip, a veneer that feels high when you bite, sensitivity that is getting worse rather than better, an ache when you bite down, or a veneer that has chipped or come away. None of those should be waited out, and all of them are easier to deal with early.
If a veneer comes off, keep it and bring it with you. Do not attempt to re-attach it yourself with anything from a chemist or a hardware shop.
What maintenance should you expect?
This is the part worth being straight about, and it is why we say it before you commit rather than after. Cosmetic work is not a one-off purchase.
Composite gets polished at your check-ups and occasionally repaired or added to, which is ordinary maintenance rather than a failure. Porcelain holds its surface, but if it chips it is replaced rather than patched. Gums recede slowly over a lifetime in most people, which can eventually show the margin on any cosmetic work. And if you grind, a night splint is usually the thing that protects the investment.
Anyone telling you cosmetic work is permanent and maintenance-free is selling you something.
What about your gums?
Veneers do not protect the tooth underneath from gum problems, and healthy gums are what keeps the margin hidden and the work looking right. Bleeding when you brush is worth acting on rather than accepting, and it is the earliest sign of gum disease.
Principal dentist Dr Fatima Kurnaz, a general dentist rather than a registered specialist, reviews the clinical information on this page. If anything here does not match what you were told at your appointment, go with what you were told and ring us to check.
Other questions people ask
Can I eat normally straight away?
Composite is fully set before you leave, and bonded porcelain is solid once the cement has cured, so yes. What to avoid is biting hard things with your front teeth, and for the first day or two it is worth going easy on anything that stains heavily while the surface settles.
Will they stain?
Composite picks up colour at the edges over the years, particularly with coffee, tea, red wine and smoking, and polishing at your check-up is part of dealing with that. Porcelain resists staining well. Neither responds to whitening once it is in place.
Can I whiten my teeth later?
You can whiten your natural teeth, but the veneers will stay exactly the colour they were made, so the two can end up mismatched. If whitening is something you might want, say so before the veneers are made rather than after.
What if one comes off?
Keep it, do not try to glue it back yourself, and ring us. A veneer that has come off cleanly can often be re-bonded. Household adhesives ruin that possibility and can damage the tooth underneath.
Do I need a night splint?
If you grind or clench, it is worth discussing, because grinding shortens the life of both materials and is the most common reason cosmetic work chips. Tell us if you wake with a sore jaw, or if anyone has told you that you grind in your sleep.
How often should I come in?
At least as often as you did before, and your dentist may suggest more often. Check-ups after cosmetic work are not just about the teeth, they are about the margins where the work meets tooth, which is where a problem starts quietly.