Porcelain veneers: a review of the literature

Objectives: Porcelain veneers are steadily increasing in popularity among t oday's dental practitioners for conservative restoration of unaesthetic ant erior teeth. As with any new procedure, in vitro and in vivo investigations are required to assess the ultimate clinical efficacy of these restoration s. The current literature was therefore reviewed in search for the most imp ortant parameters determining the long-term success of porcelain veneers. Data sources: Laboratory studies focusing on parameters in prediction of th e clinical efficacy of porcelain veneers such as the tooth preparation for porcelain veneers, the selection and type of the adhesive system, the quali ty of marginal adaptation, the resistance against microleakage, the periodo ntal response, and the aesthetic characteristics of the restorations have b een reviewed. The clinical relevance of these parameters was then determine d by reviewing the results of short and medium to long-term in vivo studies involving porcelain veneers performed during the last 10 years. Conclusions: The adhesive porcelain veneer complex has been proven to be a very strong complex in vitro and in vivo. An optimal bonded restoration was achieved especially if the preparation was located completely in enamel, i f correct adhesive treatment procedures were carried out and if a suitable luting composite was selected. The maintenance of aesthetics of porcelain v eneers in the medium to long term was excellent, patient satisfaction was h igh and porcelain veneers had no adverse effects on gingival health inpatie nts with an optimal oral hygiene. Major shortcomings of the porcelain venee r system were described as a relatively large marginal discrepancy, and an insufficient Rear resistance of the luting composite. Although these shortc omings had no direct impact on the clinical success of porcelain veneers in the medium term, their influence on the overall clinical performance in th e long term is still unknown and therefore needs further study. (C) 2000 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.