tooth veneers

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The time has come....

I had a root canal on one of my front teeth when I was 18 and as the years have gone by (nearly 20 years, to be precise!) it's everso slowly and gently started to get discoloured. It's not that bad but has got to the stage where I'm feeling quite self-conscious about it.

So have spoken to my dentist and he's advising putting a veneer on it. Problem is, it won't be very straightforward apparently as my teeth slant inwards and the ones next to the front ones overlap slightly so the veneer will be quite thick at the bottom, plus I'll probably have to have the one next to it done otherwise they'll look really wonky.

It's pathetic really but I've massively got the willies about getting this done... what if it looks awful? what if it changes my appearance completely? I've been noticing others' veneers since this has been on the cards and seen quite a few bad ones (ie, really obvious, black lines where it meets the gum, etc.) But it's either this or a totally witchy, black front tooth. I feel a bit stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Just wondering if any of you have any good veener stories you can share?! or if anyone has been in a similar predicament to me with a dead discoloured tooth and minds telling me what they did about it?

I have veneers on three front teeth, I had them done to straighten them up, there was actually nothing wrong with the teeth. They have been great, been on about 7 years now with no problems. One is very thick at the bottom, it took a few weeks to get used to but it's fine now. The only issue I have with it is that I can't cut things with it (like shop tags) anymore because it's not sharp! Probably not a bad thing. In retrospect, I wish I had had some teeth removed and a brace fitted to straighten them, because I'm conscious that these will need to be replaced at some point at a not insignificant cost.

Oooh thank you that's encouraging

I lost the nerve from my left front canine (3rd tooth from centre, so not exactly front tooth)when I was about 19. This gradually discoloured at the top over the years.
About 4 years ago my dentist and I discussed this and I decided on a crown as well as teeth whitening. Firstly I had all my teeth whitened over a period of 2 weeks through the nights with specially made moulds to fit my teeth and then a mould made over original tooth and then crown made from this left 3rd tooth in the same shade of whiteness that my teeth now were.
At some stage I had a temporary crown for 2 weeks whilst the permenant crown was made.
The crown looks good, my teeth are much whiter and I have had no problems.
Would this be something you could do as at least the crown will match the original tooth shape?
Or can absolute front teeth not be crowned?

I had veneers done on my front teeth two years ago, was ok getting them done, but I was never comfortable with them. Then three days ago I was eating lunch, accidentally bit the fork, and they snapped off completely, leaving me with a lovely bill of over 200 quid for new crowns, which I had to replace them.