Feldspathic porcelain veneers, no-prep (×2)

A veneer is a thin shell of dental ceramic bonded to the front of a tooth to change its shape, colour, or alignment. It is one of the most conservative ways to transform a smile, because — done well — it can leave most of the natural tooth intact.

Almost all of the difference between one veneer result and another comes down to two things: the skill of the ceramist, and the material the veneer is made from. The two materials used for high-end veneers are hand-layered feldspathic porcelain and pressed or milled lithium disilicate, which you will see branded as IPS e.max.

They are not 'better' and 'worse' versions of the same thing. They behave differently, suit different teeth, and involve different amounts of tooth preparation. Understanding the trade-off is the key to understanding your own plan — and it is why RODIN works with both rather than defaulting to one.

Feldspathic veneers are built up by hand, layer by layer, by a ceramist working with fine porcelain powders and a brush. Because they can be made extremely thin — often around 0.3–0.5 mm — they typically allow the most conservative preparation, removing the least natural tooth structure. In favourable cases they can be bonded with minimal or even no preparation.

Hand-layering gives a ceramist very fine control over translucency, internal colour, and surface texture. That is why feldspathic is so often chosen when the priority is recreating the subtle depth and 'life' of natural enamel, or matching a single front tooth to the teeth on either side — the most demanding aesthetic task in dentistry.

The trade-off is strength. Being thinner and made of feldspathic porcelain, these veneers are generally less fracture-resistant than lithium disilicate, and the quality of the result depends heavily on the ceramist's artistry. They reward a conservative, aesthetics-led case and an experienced laboratory.

IPS e.max veneers are made from lithium disilicate, a glass-ceramic that is pressed and/or milled for consistent, reproducible quality. Compared with feldspathic porcelain, lithium disilicate is substantially stronger in flexural strength, which makes it more forgiving in a wider range of situations.

It still offers high translucency, so the aesthetic ceiling is excellent — but it also has enough body to mask moderate underlying discolouration (for example a darkened or previously root-treated tooth) that a wafer-thin feldspathic veneer might let show through.

Because it is fabricated by press/milling rather than fully built by hand, the result is more reproducible and a little less dependent on a single ceramist's hand. It usually needs slightly more preparation than the very thinnest feldspathic veneers, but the difference is small and decided case by case.

There is no single 'best' veneer — the right choice depends on the case. Feldspathic is often favoured for maximally conservative, highly aesthetic anterior work and single-tooth shade matching. e.max is often favoured where a balance of strength and aesthetics, broader indications, or some masking of discolouration is needed.

Several factors feed into the recommendation: the condition and colour of the underlying tooth, your bite (a heavy bite or grinding habit pushes toward stronger materials), the shade goal, and how many teeth are involved. Sometimes the answer is a combination — different materials on different teeth within the same smile.

Both materials involve a small, permanent reduction of enamel (least with the thinnest feldspathic) and are then bonded to the tooth. Because enamel is removed, veneers are not considered reversible — the plan is always confirmed in writing before any preparation begins.

Longevity commonly cited for quality porcelain veneers is on the order of 10–15 years with good care — not a lifetime guarantee, and individual results vary with bite, habits, and hygiene. Veneers can chip or debond and may eventually need replacement.

Day to day they are looked after like natural teeth: regular brushing and flossing, and avoiding using your front teeth to bite very hard objects. If you grind your teeth at night, a protective night guard is often recommended to protect the investment.

We offer both feldspathic and e.max because committing to a single material would mean compromising some cases — pushing every patient toward whichever material the clinic happens to stock. We would rather let the tooth decide.

The material is selected for your specific situation during planning, in collaboration with our ceramist, and confirmed in writing before treatment begins — so you know not just what is being done, but why that material was chosen for your smile.