How Long Do Porcelain Veneers and Crowns Last?

Porcelain veneers may not be your only choice.  If you like the shape of your teeth and the only thing to correct is color, ask about Kor Deep Bleaching.  We have had good results with teeth that are darker. If you achieve the color you desire, their is minimal upkeep and you will not have to have veneers replaced every 10 years!

So I tell my patients that "everything man made if bound to fail", think about it, everything that's man made if it last over 10 years, then I'd say you got your money's worth.  You spend $20,000 on a car, after 10 years it's kind of beat, not counting all the maintenance cost you've put in in those 10 years.  Same thing with veneers and crowns.  You the patient has a huge role in maintain the longevity of your veneers investment as well.  You can't just have them put on and go MIA on us for 3-4 years.  As much as we all like to believe our own work will last for a life time, the honest truth is all things man made is bound to fail.  With that said, I've seen my patient with veneers or crowns lasted well over 10+ years.  Find a reputable dentist that has wealth experience in veneers, that will be your first insurance that your investment will last longer.   

There are other options to veneers if you really are satisfied with the colour of your teeth. 
Some very specialist whitening lasers, in particular the green KTP laser, directly breaks down the pigment molecules and can go through a significant distance of your tooth. 
Similarly standard tooth whitening can move you teeth a long way to being largely stain free, but with antibiotic stains you could be looking at up to 12 months nightly whetting gel placement. This sounds extreme, but when your teeth have released the stain, they will not go back to how they look now, they will only darken in the standard way that everyone else's teeth discolour. 
Investigate and check these options before going down the road of a treatment just because of tooth colour. Well shaped teeth are an asset and should not be changed without considering all the possible options. 
Good luck with your search.

Kind regards
Thomas Dey, BDS, MSc

I would have to agree that on the average, porcelain veneers last about 10 years.  I have done some that are fine after 20 years, and often the reason for replacing them is cosmetic.  Sometimes the gum recedes and you can see a darker root surface above the veneer close to the gumline.  Other times the veneers lose their vitality and become a bit dull from years of coffee, red wine and other things that can stain them over the long run. (Although for the most part, high quality porcelain veneers are very stain resistant, even more so than your natural tooth.





Dr.Steven Goldy

This is a difficult question to answer since there are so many variables, but the materials and tooth preparation that we use now is much better than what was used just 10 years ago.  I believe that well placed and constructed veneers can last 10 to 20 (or more) years.  The materials are durable and the work fits much more accurately as well.

Antibiotic staining is a common problem and the only real solution to mask this would be with porcelain since the staining is internal and not external. Porcelain veneers done well can last 15+ years. It really depends how well they are taken care of! Definitely go in for your regular cleanings, careful with chewing on hard objects, and if youre a grinder, get a nightguard. Best of luck!

In my practice, I regularly have patients who have had their first set of porcelain veneers for 10, 20, even 30 years or more.Hope that helps. James Asaf, DDS

We generally will tell patients 7-10 years, but really I see them last much longer in patients that take good care of them with proper oral hygiene and routine cleanings. Also, wearing a biteguard will minimize stress on them and allow for greater longevity.

In the 26 years of doing cosmetic
dentistry, seeing the generations that have come across in my office. Obviously we have treated many patients with
tetracycline staining or antibiotic induced staining. Definitely we can get some reasonably good
results with deep bleaching. There are
now materials that do a very good job. Yet it does not give us the absolute beauty and coverage that we can get
from porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns. So I still for those very dark
cases I still recommend that we look at porcelain coverage.

The short answer is that properly done porcelain veneers and crowns usually last a very long time!

They are like a car, how long your car lasts depends on what type of car your purchased, how well it was maintained, did you follow through and have all your routine services done, in what conditions do you drive it, how many miles do you drive every year, and did you get into any automobile accidents. 

How good was the dentist who placed the veneers?  What kind of material did he use?  How good was the ceramist who actually made the veneers?  What kind of bonding protocol did he use?  Do you grind or clench your teeth?  If so, do you wear a night guard?  Have you ever fallen or gotten a traumatic blow to your teeth?  Have you ever eaten a soft meal and while chewing found something very hard (like a nut) and unexpected when you bit down to chew?

I have many patients who are still wearing unbroken porcelain veneers for twenty years plus.  Now days with better materials and techniques, I'm expecting that many of my porcelain veneers may last even a lifetime.  However, there is no dentist who can guarantee that the veneers they placed will last a lifetime, but that certainly is our goal.  Again, the short answer is that properly done porcelain veneers should last a very long time provided you don't have an accident with them.

Regarding porcelain crowns, we can expect the same.  Actually porcelain crowns may last longer than porcelain veneers, but the downside of porcelain crowns vs. porcelain veneers is that the latter requires more drilling and tooth preparation than with porcelain veneers.

Now, let's look at worst case scenario.  You had ten porcelain veneers placed ten years ago and then one day you broke a single porcelain veneer.  Do you have to replace all ten?  Certainly not!  Just replace the one that broke.  The same applies to porcelain crowns.

When I hear stories of patients who have had porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns placed that only lasted a few years I usually think to myself, why did they fail?  Most common reason is they bit down on something very hard.  Second most common reason is that they grind or clench their teeth, and this habit puts double the load on the veneers or crowns.  Another reason is the material used.  Back in the 1980s feldspathic veneers were the material of choice, actually the only material.  Then a decade later pressed ceramic (Empress porcelain) was introduced that was much stronger and lasted longer.  Today the material of choice for our practice is EMax porcelain, which is incredibly strong and long lasting and we expect to supersede all of the other materials done in years earlier by many years.