With professionals claiming that teeth whitening is becoming more effective and affordable, there is little doubt that greater media exposure to the benefits of the procedure means that cosmetic dentistry is opening up to a wider and wider audience all over the world.
Although the procedure is still in its relative infancy in Europe, simple whitening veneers have been proving increasingly popular in the US during the course of the last 20 years now.
But with many of the leading cosmetics giants launching easy-to-use at-home teeth whitening kits, professionals have had to respond with cheaper and better alternatives. For US dentistry professsionals, veneers are said to be the most popular choice as they're fast, easy and versatile. A veneer only covers the front surface and biting edge of a tooth and can give a straighter, whiter smile. It can also correct more serious orthodontic problems in a fraction of the time an orthodontist would need.
What was once a long and complicated procedure that required hours of prep work and several long visits is today a relatively easy and comfortable procedure, that can be accomplished in a few hours.
But as the market has evolved, two types of porcelain veneer are now available: feldspathic and pressed ceramics; and the two differing greatly from one another.
Dentistry professionals now claim that the most advanced veneering method is pressed ceramics, which is also a product that can compete with at-home teeth whitening treatments. This is said to produce a natural looking and extremely strong veneer that is stain-resistant and long-lasting. The industry - clinicians, manufacturers, laboratories and academia - have come together to develop a veneer that provides many advantages over the older, traditional feldspathic veneer, first introduced in the 1980s.
Pressed ceramics are said to be two to three times stronger, completely stain resistant and twice as long-lasting as feldspathic veneers. Multiple, subtle colour elements are baked directly into the body of pressed ceramics, giving them the kind of complex, realistic appearance and stain resistance that traditional feldspathic veneers can't provide. The method is also said to be gentler on the real teeth they come into contact with and is completely bio-compatible.
Given the advantages of the newer materials, pressed ceramics have now overtaken feldspathics as the veneer of choice of most top dentists in the US, with the most popular brand claimed to be MAC Veneers by MicroDental.
Bonded all-ceramic feldspathic veneers were the first type of veneers ever made. They were introduced to dentistry in the mid-1980s, and at the time were considered cutting-edge. However, with the advances in technology and materials, feldspathic ceramics are quickly becoming outdated, and replaced with more modern materials. Da Vinci is a popular veneer brand made with this type of ceramics, which are made through a layering technique in which layers of porcelain are stacked on top of one another to create a ceramic tooth.
Because these veneers are relatively thin, they require a minimum amount of preparation of the tooth before fitting the veneer. But, due to the thinness of the material, feldspathic veneers are said to be unable to do things that pressed ceramic veneers can - such as change tooth shape, colour or provide instant orthodontics.
Feldspathic veneers are also the same price as the newer, pressed ceramics and are used primarily on the front teeth. They're relatively thin and are said not to have the compressive strength required for successful use on teeth in the back of the mouth. Feldspathics are also fairly limited in the range of colours they can represent, so they often look less realistic than real teeth. Dentists also cite the potential for staining, discolouration and harm to the enamel of your natural teeth as possible drawbacks.
"Feldspathic veneers have many limitations when compared to pressed ceramics. They cannot change tooth colour, correct a bite, reshape teeth, or offer instant orthodontic advantages," said Dr. Christopher Pescatore, DDS, a leading cosmetic dentists in the US. "Many of the patients I treat have feldspathic veneers from other dentists, and come to me complaining that over the years the veneers have color-shifted to a darker shade or become stained. Or even worse, they experience abrasion from their veneers on their own surrounding teeth. The best solution is to replace them with pressed ceramic veneers."
However, the veneers are now facing increasing competition from at-home teeth whitening treatments, with leading cosmetics players such as P&G, Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever all trying to increase there presence in the market.
As with veneer treatments, at-home whitening products have also experienced huge growth in the US market, where it is now an established and still burgeoning categoru. Indeed the total tooth whitening industry in the US is now estimated to be worth in excess of $500 million annually.
In Europe, industry experts are tipping the UK market as being the first to really embrace teeth whitening. The UK has so far proved to be by far the largest market for veneer treatments and whitening toothpastes, which is part of the reason why the cosmetic giants are already planning on making the UK market the launching pad for these products in Europe, once the EU authorities have given their approval.