Veneers or Crowns for Chipped Front Teeth? (photo)

The number will be the same whether crowns or veneers, but veneers are more conservative. The more the better, as this allows the dentist and lab the most control in smile design, but if you just want a "fix" then 2 veneers should work.

Quick solutions for chipped teeth may be bonding for the two front teeth as a temporary solution, if you have more than an third of the teeth missing.  For long-term stability and strength, Veneers are a better option.  Veneers are more conservative than full coverage Crowns.  If there is nerve damage associated with the fractures a tooth, a Crown is the best option due to discoloration associated with nerve damage.

Dr. Douglas

I think the first step would be to bond the chipped teeth. Composite bonding can be done in one visit, and is the least expensive option to repair these teeth. While composite bonding will have to be redone at some point, it is a permanent material, so if you are happy with how the bonding looks you won't need to do anything else immediately. Long term, I think veneers would be better in your case than crowns since veneers need less tooth structure removal. Two veneers will probably be fine as far as matching the shade is concerned.

Teeth bonding is done with a composite resin that can restore both aesthetics and function to your smile. Placed on both the front and back of teeth, the composite resin used in teeth bonding provides a strong, long-lasting, and seamless appearance to smiles impacted by decay or marred by cosmetic imperfections. Teeth bonding also requires very little of your natural tooth to be removed for these procedures, allowing more of your natural tooth to be preserved. Moreover, teeth bonding is done in one office visit, making it a much simpler and faster procedure.

The material used in teeth bonding is not as strong as other restorative options, and may discolor, chip, or break over time. Knowing that the needs of each patient is unique, we always recommend our patient to consider options in terms of aesthetics and duration.

Veneers are made of thin layer of porcelain, even though it sounds fragile, it is not. They never discolored and it looks great all the time. It is hard to determine from the photo if you need more than 2 veneers, but keep in consideration that if you are going to spend the money, think about doing teeth whitening and then take care of the front teeth. If you go to a great cosmetic dentist he will be able to make two beautiful veneers and have everything match perfectly. I do no think you need more than 2 if you are happy with the shape of your existing teeth.

Based on your photograph, porcelain laminate veneers are a better choice than crowns as the preparation for the placement involves less reduction of your natural teeth. If done with a good ceramist, I also see no reason to prepping an additional two teeth as the central incisors (two front teeth) are the only ones that sustained any damage. It also appears that you chipped the incisal edges of your teeth and as a future reference you should immediately look for any fractured pieces of tooth and place them in milk (to keep them from decalcifying) or salt water if no milk is available. Often these pieces can be rebonded as well.