For most people the cost of the porcelain veneers will be a major consideration, and possibly even the determining factor, when making a decision about whether or not to have veneers placed. This is especially true in those cases where the primary reason for placing veneers is cosmetic in nature, thus making them ineligible for dental insurance coverage.
Of course discovering the costs associated with a porcelain veneer case is one of the primary purposes of the patient's initial dental consultation. Most likely the dentist will have a set standard fee that they charge per porcelain veneer. A dentist would term this a "per unit" fee, a unit being a single porcelain veneer.
You might anticipate that related to "economies of scale" or such that a dentist might charge a reduced per unit price for those treatment plans where multiple porcelain veneers are being placed. This is not usually the case. In most instances you will find that the total cost of a proposed dental veneer treatment plan will be a simple multiple of the dentist's standard per unit fee. A case involving six porcelain veneers costing six times as much as a case involving just a single veneer.
Sure, a case involving a large number veneers may be somewhat more profitable for the dentist. Certainly it doesn't take six times longer in appointment time to place six porcelain veneers for a dental patient rather than just one. But many of the other costs the dentist has are quite fixed (such as the amount they pay per unit to the dental laboratory that makes the veneers). Additionally, larger porcelain veneer cases can certainly be more difficult to manage and complete than those that involve just a single tooth. All things considered you'll probably find that a dentist would tell you that they make a fair return on multiple dental veneer cases and that the price of a single veneer case is a bit of a bargain for the patient.
Porcelain veneer per unit cost: $600 to $1500
Here's a price range estimate for a single porcelain veneer (a single "unit"). Of course it's impossible to know what specific fee you will be quoted. Small town, large city, Midwestern state, East Coast, West Coast, family dentist, large cosmetic dentistry practice. These are all factors that can influence the cost of your treatment plan, even though in theory the porcelain veneer being provided and the cosmetic result it provides in each case could be essentially identical.
In some cases a dentist may actually need to charge you more than their usual per unit fee. Here on our pages we have discussed how at times
temporary veneers are needed. We've also described how a dentist might create an
in the mouth mock-up of a porcelain veneer case before it is begun. If these procedures are required the dentist will need to expend a greater amount of time and effort to complete the case, thus creating a need for them to adjust the price of the treatment upward.
First published: November, 2005
Reference sources:
Baird, D. Aesthetic Porcelain Restorations: Treatment Planning for Complex Cases. Picture Perfect Aesthetics: The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry Monograph. Vol. #2. 2005
Calamia, J. Etched Porcelain Laminate Restorations: A 20-Year Retrospective-Part I. Picture Perfect Aesthetics: The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry Monograph. Vol. #2. 2005
Dumfahrt, H. et al. Porcelain laminate veneers. A retrospective evaluation after 1 to 10 years of service: Part II - Clinical results. Int. J. Prosthodont. Volume 13, number 1. Jan-Feb, 2000.
Fradeani, M. et al. Porcelain laminate veneers: 6- to 12-year clinical evaluation-a retrospective study. Int. J. Periodontics Restorative Dent. Volume 25, number 1. February, 2005.
Peumans, M. et al. A prospective ten-year clinical trial of porcelain veneers. J. Adhesive Dent. Volume 6, number 1. Spring, 2004.
Rosenthal, L. Understanding and Communicating Aesthetic Dentistry. Picture Perfect Aesthetics: The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry Monograph. Vol. #2. 2005
Smales, R. et al. Long-term survival of porcelain laminate veneers using two preparation designs: a retrospective study. Int. J. Prosthodont. Volume 13, number 3. May, 2004.
Sonis, S. Dental Secrets, 3rd Edition. Hanley & Belfus, Inc. (c)2003
Walls, A. et al. Crowns and other extra-coronal restorations: Porcelain laminate veneers. Br. Dental J. Volume 193, number 2. July, 2002.
Yarovesky, U. Porcelain Veneer Technologies: Laboratory Techniques for Aesthetic Results. The New Face of Aesthetics: The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry Monograph. Vol. #1. 2004