Teeth Whitening vs. Porcelain Veneers

Dr. Edward Romano offers a wide range of cosmetic dentistry treatments at Aesthetic Smiles of New Jersey that can revitalize the appearance of your smile. During the consultation process, our dentists walk you through the benefits of some of our most popular procedures to help you make a well-informed decision about which treatment is best-suited for your needs. Stains and discoloration, which are common cosmetic concerns among our patients, can be effectively treated with teeth whitening and porcelain veneers—but which treatment is the most ideal for achieving your personal goals?

Teeth whitening is often considered the fastest and easiest way to rejuvenate the appearance of your smile. With both in-office and at-home options available at our practice, your teeth whitening regimen is completely tailored to your unique goals and preferences. In-office whitening can be performed in just one hour, optimizing your time and often achieving an immediate improvement in tooth shade. At-home professional grade whitening kits also offer the ultimate convenience, as you can wear custom-made trays in the privacy of your own home. Patients who wear their whitening trays overnight frequently achieve good results in one to two weeks. In turn, teeth whitening can be an ideal solution for patients with surface stains as their major cosmetic concern.

While teeth whitening procedures can be faster and more cost-effective than porcelain veneers, the fact is that porcelain veneers offer many unique aesthetic benefits— particularly for patients who have more severe discoloration on their teeth that cannot be fully remedied with teeth whitening alone. Since porcelain veneers are designed to cover stains and other dental imperfections, this cosmetic treatment can be more capable of concealing deep-set discoloration while addressing other cosmetic concerns, such as cracks, chips, gaps, and short teeth. Furthermore, the porcelain material used to craft the veneers is typically resistant to staining agents, offering long-lasting benefits to the appearance of your tooth shade.

All in all, porcelain veneers can be ideal for patients who wish to address a variety of cosmetic concerns at once. Not only can veneers mask the appearance of dental flaws, but they are also used to restore the dimensions of a healthy, younger-looking tooth structure. As a result, the placement of porcelain veneers can achieve comprehensive smile enhancement in one treatment. That said, if your only objective is to lighten the teeth and minimize the prominence of discoloration, teeth whitening may be enough to attain a gleaming result that fulfills your treatment goals.  

For more information about teeth whitening or porcelain veneers, or to schedule an appointment with one of our dentists, please contact us today.

Editor’s note: The original version of this post was published on August 27, 2016.