Replacing Old Composite Veneers — Natural Refresh

The starting point here was a set of old composite veneers that had aged badly: blocky, poorly shaped, very opaque and thick. They'd originally been placed to block out white and brown stains in the enamel underneath — a common but often heavy-handed way of dealing with discolouration.

In cases like this, the better approach is often not more bonding, but less. Removing the old composite altogether and addressing the staining directly — combining tooth whitening to lift and even out the overall shade with ICON, a resin infiltration treatment that soaks into the enamel to reduce the visibility of white and brown marks without any drilling — usually gets a more natural result. New bonding is then reserved only for the specific spots where the enamel itself is thin or structurally defective, rather than covering everything.

This case needed a bit more than that minimal approach: alongside correcting the staining, the patient wanted additional volume and a brighter overall shade, which meant bonding had to extend across the whole visible smile rather than staying limited to isolated areas. Because the patient is young, composite resin was chosen over porcelain veneers specifically to avoid removing any healthy tooth structure. ICON was still used first to reduce the underlying white and brown staining — which meant more translucent composites could be used on top, instead of the thicker, opaque layers usually needed to mask heavy discolouration, giving a result that reads as natural tooth rather than visible "bonding." Ten composite veneers were placed in total, brightening the shade and adding the extra volume and fullness the patient wanted, especially visible when smiling.