Dental Bonding Vs Veneers for More Natural Looking Teeth?

The art of a beautiful smile is a lot more complicated that just putting bonding or porcelain on teeth.  You probably need to redo your veneers with a more artistic dentist and dental lab.If you have veneers an do not like the appearance find a better artist.  Many people look for veneers or crowns like shopping at Target and looking for the cheapest price.  Ceramic veneers can cost the dentist under $50 in lab fees or may cost several hundred dollars. Fine art is more expensive.  I suggest you find a doctor you trust, tell them what you want and work closely with them to achieve the results you want. The first step is a diagnostic wax-uo to achieve ideal shape and position of final appearance including evaluating gum levels.This is transferred to your mouth as provisionals and can be adjusted for ideal esthetics.The next question is color, but color has multiple considerations.  Value is the "Brightness" of the restoration.  To understand think of a can of blue paint.  you can add more and more white paint to the blue and you will have whiter and brighter blue paint.Chroma is the color or hue, in the above example  blue paint.Translucency vs opaque appearance is another consideration as is natural looking incisal edge translucency.  Depending on the shade of the tooth different opaqueness may be required.You can try veneers in with non-setting try-in paste to see the effect of the cements in more translucent veneers. Yesterday, I did a single ceramic crown on a front tooth is an older gentleman.  We created a base color for the crown and then my ceramist came and custom fired stains on the crown to make it invisibly fit into the existing smile.  There is no way that could be done inexpensively.Ira L Shapira  DDS, D,ABDSM, D,AAPM, FICCMOChair, Alliance of TMD OrganizationsDelanyDentalCare.comThinkBetterLife.com

There is no question that porcelain veneers are a better option than dental bonding for that many teeth.  They should not look fake though.  A great set of veneers should look extremely natural.  They will hold their shine and will not stain.  Bonding will dull after a period of time and aesthetically does not compare to porcelain veneers.  Communicate with your dentist what you do not like and in the end you should have a fantastic result.  

We now have advanced a lot techincally and you can have a natural looking porcelain veneer or you can even get the smiles of some of your loved ones copied and done with porcelain veneers or even in composites too but porcelain veneers are more durable than any other treatment options available now

Finely made veneers trump all other restorations, including composite and your own natural teeth. It sounds to me that there was a quality issue pertaining to veneer's craftsmanship (or lack of).

Porcelain veneers without question is the preferred material for long lasting natural looking veneers. Bonding is a porous plastic material that discolors and dulls over time. Even if you don't drink coffee or smoke, bonding will stain from anything with color. Porcelain is a glass like material that is highly resistant to staining, and when properly done will always look better than bonding.  
Since you've already prepped your teeth for porcelain veneers, Its almost impossible to go backwards and do bonding and have it look good. It really depends on how much of the teeth have been prepped, and how skilled your dentist is. 
Its good you didn't cement something you didn't like. The appearance of the porcelain comes down to the ceramist your dentist works with, and their skill level. If none of your dentists' work looks natural to you, then I would seek out an expert cosmetic dentist who's work is more of what you're looking for. 

Hi:Since your teeth have already been prepped for veneers its best to get veneers.  Veneers are more natural looking than bonding.Best,Dr. Maddahi

Great question - It does largely come down to the ability of your dentist. 
However a way of thinking about it is composite bonding uses the tooth's natural way of playing with light best when it is about one quarter of the size of the tooth or less. Any more and the play of light is ruined and you are more likely to get a more consistently beautiful look with porcelain veneers, but then only with more of the teeth veneered so that they can look more like each other.
Ask for you dentist to do a mock-up or simulation to see if the bulkiness of each option and overall look and proportions are what you would be happy with and make you feel most comfortable. 
Good luck with your search -
Kind regards 
Thomas Dey, BDS, MSc

Unfortunately, once you have had porcelain veneers placed, the option of doing bonding on these teeth virtually makes no sense, and is technically very challenging to achieve a good result.  The concerns you raise can easily be avoided by having an experienced cosmetic dentist redo the treatment, who knows how to take the proper steps and protocol to ensure you are happy with the result, BEFORE the veneers are permanently bonded.

The temporary veneers can be placed, manipulated, adjusted, etc until you are nearly 100% happy, and then those results duplicated in the permanent veneers.  Additionally, the permanent veneers are placed on your teeth (not bonded or cemented) and you should be given as much time you need (in the dental treatment room, with friends or family present to offer their opinion if so desired) to evaluate them before they are permanently luted to your teeth.







Steven M. Goldy, DDS

I agree with the other responses and correctly placed and designed porcelain veneers can look natural and last a long time.  The esthetic results are a combination of the skills of the dentists and his ceramist.  Veneers can be designed to appear very natural and esthetic.  They can also be designed to be Hollywood White.Some factors that should be incorporated into naturally appearing veneers are:-anatomy of the veneer-shape and contours of the veneers-glaze or luster of the veneer-some degree of translucency-proper embrasure space between the teethPerhaps talk to your dentist and discuss what your concerns are to see if he/she can help you with this.

When performed by a skillful and experienced cosmetic specialist, porcelain veneers are the best choice for a natural and beautiful smile.Best of luck.James Asaf, DDS