How long do veneers last?
Well-made porcelain, placed correctly and looked after, commonly lasts 10 to 20 years or more. Composite bonding on the same tooth is a different number, closer to 4 to 8 years.
The porcelain itself almost never wears out in that window. What gives way first is the edge where the veneer meets your gumline, or the tooth underneath it.
10 to 20+ years
Color holds. Porcelain does not stain the way enamel does.
4 to 8 years
Cheaper up front, and it dulls and stains on the way.
What actually fails
The edge, right at the gumline, where the porcelain stops and your own tooth starts. Dentists call that edge the margin. If the seal there breaks down, decay gets in underneath, and the veneer has to come off so the tooth can be repaired.
This is why the fit matters more than the shade nobody can see from two feet away.
The second failure is the gum receding over the years and exposing a line of natural tooth above the porcelain. The veneer is fine. It just stops looking right.
What shortens it
- Grinding at night without a guard. This is the biggest one by a distance, and most people who grind do not know they do.
- Skipping cleanings, which is how that edge goes bad quietly.
- Front teeth used as tools. Bottles, packaging, fingernails.
- A bite that was never addressed. If force wore your natural teeth down, that same force is now working on porcelain.
The part you control
Wear the night guard. Keep the cleanings. That is most of it.
The rest was decided before the veneers went on, in how the case was planned and how carefully those edges were finished. You cannot fix that afterwards, which is the argument for not shopping on price alone.
Written by Dr. Peter Bonifatto, DMD, a general dentist in Las Vegas whose practice focuses on cosmetic and restorative work. General information, not a diagnosis. What your own teeth need is decided at an exam, with x-rays.
Ask about your own teeth.
A comprehensive exam with photographs and x-rays, then a written plan with real figures you keep. Starts at $99, with no deposit on top of it.