Laminate
A laminate veneer is a cosmetic treatment that thinly reshapes the front surface of a tooth and bonds a fingernail-thin ceramic shell on top to improve its color, shape, and alignment. Unlike a crown, which covers the whole tooth, it works mainly on the front surface.
The key question is how much is removed
How long a laminate veneer lasts and whether it causes side effects both depend heavily on how much is removed and how well it bonds. Bonding within the enamel (the tooth's hard outer layer) holds better, while cutting down into the dentin increases sensitivity and the risk of the veneer coming off. So the right order is to check how much needs to be removed from your own teeth first, before asking how many teeth and how much it costs.
How it differs from Minish
Minish repairs a damaged area with a material whose properties are close to natural teeth, so its starting point is closer to "repairing damage" than "cosmetic improvement." Since the two treatments suit different conditions, which one fits is decided by looking at the tooth itself. A detailed comparison is on the Minish page.
Dr. Jongbum Lee's approach — We don't set the amount of tooth removal in advance; we explain the minimum removal needed, based on the diagnosis.
Q. What if a laminate veneer chips or comes off?
A. Before rebonding it, we first check why it broke. If the cause lies in your bite (how the upper and lower teeth meet), the same thing can happen again in the same spot, so we identify the cause first and then decide whether to remake it.
Related Information
- Case Study — Why We Checked the Bite First When a 15-Year-Old Laminate Veneer Broke
- Minish in Uijeongbu — how it differs from laminate veneers
- Fees
Minish