Veneers, Crowns, or Bonding for 3 Chipped Front Teeth? (photo)

I broke 3 of my front teeth about a year ago. The picture is attached - the middle tooth lost quite a bit, but the others are just chipped down at the bottom. I initially got bonding. However he told me long-term I'd need to get crowns or veneers, since the bonding would start to wear away and chip in 2-3 years. Now, one dentist is recommending 3 crowns. Another is recommending 1 crown and 3 veneers. What should I do? And how long is the bonding likely to last?

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6 Doctor Answers | Asked by sapling

Doctor Answers (6)
Community Comments (1)

Veneers crowns or bonding for chipped teeth.

Thanks for sending the photos. It looks like your bonding is still serving you well. When it becomes time to replace them, you will probably need 1 Crown and 3 Veneers in order to keep everything symmetrical on your 4 front teeth. I would not crown all 4 of them and you would not want to mix and match bonding and veneers.

Bonding VS veneers

You are the best judge. If you like what you have do not do anything right now and wait till they change color, or chip, ect... If you do not like what you have this minute, then You probably need 1 crown and 3 veneers to get your front four teeth in a batter shape. Always check the vitality of the damaged teeth. They can start darkening if their nerve within starts to die . If any of them dies, and darkens you'll need root canals as well. This may not happen... more

Soheyla Marzvaan, DDS

6 reviews

Orange County Cosmetic Dentist

Two veneers and a crown for your "banged up" front teeth is the best long term solution.

While the bonding done by your dentist is a great immediate repair option, composite resin does wear, can discolor, and does not have the same translucency and aesthetic properties as glazed porcelain. Based on the photo you submitted, it appears that the upper right central incisor and upper left lateral incisor can be treatment with veneers. However, the upper left central incisor appears to have significantly more structural damage which would require a full coverage crown. The ceramic... more

Gerry Curatola, DDS

4 reviews

Manhattan Cosmetic Dentist

Veneers Crowns or Bonding for 3 Chipped Front Teeth

It looks like your bonding is still serving you well. When it becomes time to replace them, you will probably need 1 Crown and 3 Veneers in order to keep everything symmetrical on your 4 front teeth.

Veneers, crowns or bonding

In the cases of the trauma of anterior teeth composite bonding can be a savior for quite some time. It looks like your dentist did a really good job with anterior composite. If you were my patient I probably will recommend you to wait a little with these porcelain restorations. And probably before you will go into final restorations we will recommend you to do the teeth whitening, to achieve better and brighter aesthetic results.

Veneers, Crowns, or Bonding for Chipped Front Teeth

The pictures you sent are really helpful to get a better idea of much tooth structure is missing. You have several choices, and they will vary in cost, life expectancy, and esthetic outcome. If you want to receive the best possible option, then you will want to get a crown on the badly broken tooth, and porcelain veneers on the other 3 front teeth. If cost is a concern, then consider adressing just the top two front teeth with porcelain, one with a crown and one with a... more

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Comments (1)

sapling 28 Aug 2012

Thanks for the feedback, Dr. Kharevich! I am planning to do whitening first (since if I'm spending that much on veneers or crowns, I might as well get white teeth too). I agree, I am very happy with the result of the bonding (I had no idea it could look so good - and he was not even my usual dentist, just someone I was referred to who was able to see me immediately). Unfortunately there is a little discoloration along the edge of the rightmost tooth that is starting to become more apparent (a visible line) which is why I've started looking more seriously into the veneers now. But it's definitely not a crisis, just something I'm worried will get worse.

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