Decide with your eyes open
Veneers or bonding? Invisalign or veneers? Pick any two and see exactly how they differ — what each one is really for, what it does to your teeth, how long it lasts and the honest downside nobody puts in a brochure.
Porcelain veneers
Thin custom porcelain facings bonded to the front of your teeth.
Read the porcelain veneers pageComposite bonding
Tooth-coloured resin shaped onto your own teeth in a single visit.
Read the composite bonding pageBest for
Changing colour, shape and proportion across several front teeth at once, permanently.
Chips, small gaps, worn edges and mild shape changes on otherwise healthy teeth.
How it works
Teeth are prepared and scanned, a laboratory makes the porcelain, and it is bonded at a second visit.
Resin is layered directly onto the tooth, sculpted by hand and polished the same day.
Tooth preparation
A small amount of enamel is usually removed — this cannot be undone.
Usually little or no drilling — often none at all.
Time to finish
Two to three appointments over roughly two to four weeks.
One appointment, typically two to three hours for the front teeth.
How long it lasts
Commonly ten to fifteen years or more with good care.
Around four to seven years before it needs refreshing or replacing.
Reversible?
No — prepared teeth will always need a covering afterwards.
Largely reversible where no enamel was removed.
Upkeep
Normal brushing, flossing and hygiene visits; porcelain resists staining.
Polishing at hygiene visits; it can pick up stain from tea, coffee and red wine.
The honest downside
It is a commitment. Done for the wrong reasons, on healthy teeth, it is hard to walk back.
Stains and chips sooner than porcelain, so it needs maintenance over time.
Dr Sunny’s short answer
Bonding is the gentler, cheaper, sooner-repeated option. Veneers last far longer and change more, but remove enamel. If you are unsure, start with bonding — it keeps the door open.
Read before you decide
Still weighing it up?