Am I crazy to be considering composite veneers?

[LucyITSkyWDiamonds]

I've always hated my teeth, I had braces when I was 15 so they're straight amongst themselves but they are wonky compared to the rest of my face. I'm not sure how to describe it other than if I had my head straight, so if my eyes were on a straight horizontal line (like this ----) then my teeth would be on a diagonal, like this . Obviously not that extreme, but you get the idea. Additionally, my teeth are really short, my gums come down quite far.

This all makes me incredibly self conscious and I basically hate smiling. My teeth are all I can look at in pictures of myself. I've looked up cosmetic dentists near me and I've found one which I like, has good reviews and seems trustworthy. They don't have a price list online but posted something similar to what I want and said it cost £2500. That was for 8 composite veneers on the top teeth and some laser gum shaping to make the teeth look longer.

The issue I have is that I'm currently a student (sorry for crashing mumsnet, but the advice on here is so much better than anywhere else!!). I currently have about £5000 in savings, I do some online work which earns me around £500 a month, a job coming up over Easter which will give me another £600 and a couple hundred due from a tax refund. I try to save around £50 a week too from my student loan. I don't have anyone who depends upon me and I can pay all my daily living expenses etc. through my student loan, so my savings are true savings. Sorry if this is too much detail, but I think it adds context.

Basically, am I crazy to be considering such an expensive treatment for aesthetic reasons? I'm not usually a big spender in this area, in fact I hardly ever purchase anything cosmetic or related, except for the odd hair cut and cheap makeup every now and then! £2500 is a lot of money to me, though I would be able to earn this back within a few months.

I'm just so self conscious about my teeth and it really bothers me I'm looking at going for a consultation but as these charge (I think it would be around £30, not extortionate but still money) I don't want to go if I know I can't really go through with the procedure. The veneers themselves would last up to 10 years with proper care, so I think they're good value over time (my personal opinion) but it's just the initial investment that bothers me.

Maybe I'm stupid for thinking about it like this, but I spent probably close to £2000 last year travelling around Asia for six weeks. I had the best time and it was totally worth it, but if I'm happy enough to spend that much money on a holiday then surely it's not too bad to spend it on something which will drastically improve my self confidence for the next 10 years?

Any advice is welcome, thanks in advance!

yes you are crazy to consider this sorry. your teeth sound healthy and pain free at the moment. a lot of these celebrities end up with chronic pain After getting veneers. spend the money on something else xx

Composite veneers are less intrusive than crowns or porcelain veneers though. I think that you should do it if it is something that would make you happy, it's your money and your face.

£2500 for eight veneers sounds good to me! Don’t know anything about composite veneers though. How do they differ from the usual celeb porcelain (I presume) veneers?

Not sure how to reply directly to messages sorry, but I think the thing with composite veneers is that they don't damage your teeth. I could be incorrect, but from what I've read (relatively little at the moment) the big benefit to them over porcelain veneers is that they cause no damage to your teeth, assuming you care for them correctly, and can be removed if you want them.

If anyone knows more than me, please correct me if I'm wrong!

I think some of the main differences between composite and porcelain is that porcelain veneers are made in a lab whereas composite are moulded to fit your teeth when the dentist actually puts them on. Composite won't last as long as stain easier, but they're less damaging to your teeth as less (or no?) enamel is removed, they can be repaired and they are cheaper. Plus, you can get them done in one appointment.

This website is pretty extensive - www.smileworksliverpool.co.uk/blog/composite-veneers/

Looks really good and a lot less damaging to teeth. The only thing I would be concerned about is the life expectancy of the composite veneers of 2 - 8 years vs 10 - 20 years for porcelain 😬

Do it!

Life is too short to have teeth you hate.

So long as you have researched throughly I think you should definitely do it, there is no point feeling miserable when you look in the mirror when you could fix what you consider a problem.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! Honestly, I expected to get a lot of "wth why are you spending so much on looking prettier when you have next to no money anyway?" but it's really nice to hear that people think I'm not just incredibly vain.

I'm definitely going to ask for a consultation and go from there. I think I'm going to set a limit on price at £2500 (perhaps strict max £3000) and hope I can get something nice within budget.

The range of how long they're meant to last for bothers me too, Happenstance. 8 years sounds fine but I'd be pretty bloody mad if they were ruined after 2! Will speak to the dentist about this, hopefully it's a matter of maintenance rather than just pure luck. Also going to speak to him about check ups, not sure how visiting the regular dentist every six months would work with veneers on the teeth.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! Honestly, I expected to get a lot of "wth why are you spending so much on looking prettier when you have next to no money anyway?" but it's really nice to hear that people think I'm not just incredibly vain.

I'm definitely going to ask for a consultation and go from there. I think I'm going to set a limit on price at £2500 (perhaps strict max £3000) and hope I can get something nice within budget.

The range of how long they're meant to last for bothers me too, Happenstance. 8 years sounds fine but I'd be pretty bloody mad if they were ruined after 2! Will speak to the dentist about this, hopefully it's a matter of maintenance rather than just pure luck. Also going to speak to him about check ups, not sure how visiting the regular dentist every six months would work with veneers on the teeth.

what are you doing online that earns you 500 a month? I'd like to know as id like to do it!
on a serious note, do all the research that you can possibly do before commiting to it and try to speak to people who have had it done.
I've always been self conscious about my nose and since I've had it done I have soo much more confidence and I'm a much happier person, so o would say that if it bothers you that much then fix it.
My only regret is that I didn't do my nose sooner.

They probably say 2 years to cover themselves, but yes check it out. You don’t have to justify to anyone what you spend your money on, it’s yours to do with as you see fit and if new teeth make you feel more confident it will improve so many aspects of your life, it will be well worth the investment, if you go ahead please show us before and after pictures! Good luck with your consultation, hope it goes well for you.

hatefulgreatful - a combination of matched betting and online tutoring. I go to a good university so I'm lucky enough to have the rich parents in London pay me stupid amounts to teach their kids, I definitely don't deserve that much! Matched betting is really good though, I was incredibly reluctant to start it as it just didn't sound right in my head, but it's completely risk-free and can earn you incredible amounts in hardly any time. I would definitely recommend it, I personally use OddsMonkey - it's a £15 monthly charge or so, but they do all the hard work for you and make it so that you can literally make £20 in five minutes. Must admit it helps if you can invest some money to start with just so you can complete things quicker, but if you're patient enough you can start with £20. Always happy to discuss further if needed, I think it's quite popular amongst students but I know the 'betting' part of the name puts a lot of people off.

The nose story definitely makes me feel so much more confident about having my teeth done! I've realised I hardly take any photos anymore, or won't smile properly if I do, and I really don't want to look back in 30 years time and realise I have nothing to show for my time at uni - it's meant to be the best time of your life after all!

BettyBoo - will definitely show pics if I get it done! Thanks for all the reassurance!

Definitely do it if you hate your teeth. I’m in a similar situation with mine!

My only hesitation is that even if they last 8 years, where will you be then in your life- late 20s, maybe wanting to get married/have babies? Will you likely have a spare few grand to do it again? And if you don’t- would it be hard to go back to not having the teeth you want?

Although porcelain veneers are meant to last 10-15 years or so in theory, that's notwithstanding accidentally chipping or cracking them. In which case you'd need (if it was a front tooth, as it usually is) the other front tooth remaking at the same time otherwise you wouldn't get a colour match.

Every time you get a porcelain veneer replaced, another thin layer of enamel has to be shaved off to create the right surface for the veneer to bond to. So there's a limit really to how many times you can have them remade in your lifetime before there's not enough enamel left to shave off - and then you are looking at a crown.

The porcelain veneers still stain but they are glazed so they are easier to keep clean, plus tooth bleach (whitening) brings them up clean again. You can't bleach veneers to a lighter shade but if they get dull or dingy over time you can bring them back to their original shade. I don't know how successfully composites clean up if they get dingy.

I don't know much about composite veneers, except if they are the same as temporary veneers which the dentist put on for me whilst my porcelains were being made. To be honest they looked good as he was able to mould the shape and colour exactly in the surgery whereas with porcelain veneers, impressions are taken and then it's still up to the technicians' artistry to try and guess the correct shape and colour - they will be given a colour from the dentist's notes but it depends on thickness of veneer they make and how yellow your own teeth underneath show through etc. Sometimes they make them too solid coloured and then you're onto false teeth look but too delicate/opaque and they look old and fragile.

It's really a fine art as the slightest half millimetre can look wrong, as can the thickness of a veneer. I have had impressions taken of veneers due to be replaced and the new set were nothing like the old set (worse shape) despite their having an exact impression of the old veneers to copy.

So in conclusion, if you pick your dentist right, I'd say composites sound good particularly if they don't damage your own teeth - but that sounds like no filing down, meaning the composite is stuck to complete existing teeth so it might feel funny as your teeth will literally have a coat on. Porcelain veneers being filed down don't feel funny as they are replacing the enamel that's been shaved off so no extra thickness.

I would research both thoroughly and shop around. Also I'd want to see how they can correct the diagonal.

Hope this helps!

I have composite build ups on a couple of my front teeth, they've been on for about 15 years now with no dramas. You should go for it, you'll get such a boost in confidence you'll wonder why you didn't go for it sooner. Are braces not an option for a permanent fix?

Kathy - op has already had braces, so her teeth line is straight but her jaw line is higher on one side than the other. Braces can’t fix that but clever veneers can disguise it.

AppleKatie - never even thought of this to be honest, I figured I would need to get them redone but didn't occur to me that it'd be around typical marriage and kids time (ahhh scary! haha). I am on the path of going into banking so I'd hope to have enough lying around to get them done again, though whether I will want to spend that on other things/save, or even have the money considering extortionate London prices...

Thanks for all the advice Lilac, really helpful! I think composites sound similar to the temporary veneers you mentioned, in that the dentist moulds them directly onto your teeth and they don't take off any enamel. Assumes this means there shouldn't be any issues getting them replaced etc as no teeth are being damaged? I could be wrong though, I really don't know so much about teeth. Think it's a question for the dentist upon consultation. Really don't want to damage my teeth, seen relatives spend what seems to be half their lives in dentists chairs as a result of damaged teeth/gums.

Anyone have any advice on shopping around for this kind of thing? Obviously don't want to jump in the first dentist's chair I see and end up with terrible results, but at the same time the consultations themselves seem to be upwards of £40 each time. I've looked at three places so far, like the look of one quite a lot and he's done a lot of work on celebs/reality TV stars/footballers etc.

Currently enquired at two places - is it worth looking at more just for comparison, or if I like either of the two should I just go for it?

Thanks again!

Have you considered Hungary?

Not RTFT yet but just chipping in (haha)

I had composite bonding done instead of veneers, I had ABB (alignment bleach bonding)

The inman aligner took my lower front teeth from crooked to perfectly straight in 3 months (invisalign would have taken two years and cost a lot more!)

That was about 7 years ago and apart from a couple of chips where a tiny bit has pinged off and needed patching up, they're good as new

My dentist doesn't do veneers and pretty much only recommends non invasive cosmetic dentistry, because it's less damaging to the teeth

Results of my ABB before and after

bananafish that’s fabulous! Could I be cheeky and ask how much you paid please? 🤭

I have composite veneers on two of my teeth. I had huge gaps despite having had adult braces.
My own dentist did them.
£150.
Hands down the best thing I have ever done for myself.
However they are only six months old so I don't have any longterm advice .

I had composite veneers/tooth build up 5 years ago ahead of my wedding, partly to build out an existing tooth to fill a gap and partly to improve my front teeth. I'd had years of fillings in my front teeth which over time had got bigger and very discoloured. When my dentist removed them all prior to adding the composite it looked like shotgun pellet holes in my teeth! At that point I did panic and think, what have I done? But after she'd finished the composite they looked amazing, took a bit of getting used to as they didn't look like my teeth if you know what I mean.

I'd say one thing to consider is to find a dentist who specialises in aesthetic composite work - you need someone with strong artistic/aesthetic skills rather than a regular dentist who's good at the technical procedures. Someone who can judge what your teeth should look like and can create natural looking teeth that will work for you.

Nearly 5 years later I've had no problems with chipping or damage, I do have some minor staining but I haven't had any specific aftercare - I should probably have had them checked/smoothed.