Dental Veneers questions answered in plain English

In Ireland, laboratory-crafted feldspathic porcelain veneers cost €650 to €950 per tooth, ultra-thin E.max lithium disilicate veneers cost €750 to €1,050 per tooth, and composite veneers cost €250 to €420 per tooth. For a 6-tooth upper E.max smile makeover, clinics charge €4,300 to €6,000 gross — which reduces to €3,440 to €4,800 net after claiming 20% Revenue Form Med 2 tax relief.

Yes. Under Revenue's Health Expenses rules (Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-12), laboratory-fabricated crowns and porcelain/E.max veneers qualify for 20% income tax relief on Form Med 2 when restoring worn, fractured, peg-shaped or structurally compromised teeth. Purely cosmetic chairside composite bonding is excluded from Med 2.

Composite veneers (€250 to €420/tooth) are sculpted from nano-hybrid resin in one visit with zero drilling and last 5 to 8 years. Feldspathic porcelain veneers (€650 to €950/tooth) are hand-layered ceramic shells lasting 12 to 15 years. E.max veneers (€750 to €1,050/tooth) are pressed or milled from lithium disilicate glass-ceramic down to 0.3 mm thickness, delivering 360–400 MPa flexural strength and a 15+ year clinical lifespan.

Four veneers cover the central and lateral incisors (ideal for closing a midline gap or widening peg laterals after whitening). Six veneers cover canine-to-canine across the front arch. Eight or ten upper veneers include the first and second premolars so the side buccal corridors match seamlessly when you laugh wide.

No. Ethical Dental Council-registered dentists in Ireland never grind healthy teeth down to aggressive crown pegs ('shark teeth') for veneers. Modern 0.3 mm E.max veneers require only micro-minimal smoothing within the outer enamel layer — and additive no-prep veneers require zero drilling when teeth are naturally small or spaced.

Yes. Using Digital Smile Design (DSD) and an intraoral 3D scan (€250 to €450, often included in 6–10 tooth packages), your dentist transfers a temporary composite 'trial smile' over your untouched teeth so you can approve the exact tooth length, symmetry and shade before anything is prepared.

True porcelain or E.max veneers are 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm front-surface shells that preserve 90%+ of your natural enamel. Many low-cost overseas packages grind healthy teeth down by 60%–70% into full-circle crown pegs, carrying a high risk of pulp nerve necrosis and root canals.

Mild rotation, uneven incisal edges or slight tipping can be optically aligned with minimal-prep veneers guided by a 3D wax-up. If teeth are severely crowded or your bite is deep, 3 to 6 months of clear aligners before placing ultra-thin veneers preserves far more healthy enamel.

No. Unlike natural tooth enamel and composite resin, kiln-glazed E.max and feldspathic porcelain are completely non-porous and impervious to coffee, tea, red wine and nicotine staining.

Your dentist places the finished ceramic veneers on your teeth using water-soluble try-in gel and hands you a mirror in natural daylight. Nothing is permanently cemented until you approve the shade, shape and length.

Yes. Internal walking-bleach whitening of the non-vital tooth followed by a Medium Opacity (MO) or Low Translucency (LT) E.max veneer or ceramic crown masks the dark core and matches the adjacent central incisor.

Light-cured adhesive resin cement reaches full strength immediately at the end of your bonding appointment. Once the local anaesthetic wears off after 2 to 3 hours, you can eat normally and return to work the same or next day.