All-ceramic veneers were first fabricated using glass ceramic material on refractory casts. Building of the veneers was achieved using manual layering technique and accuracy of the restorations was limited due to human errors. With development of reinforced glass ceramics, the strength of the veneers was improved but the technique was length and time consuming. The quality of veneers was dramatically improved using press-on technique and lithium reinforced glass ceramics. In the last decade, there was a shift towards using CAD/CAM technique and a variety of milling blocks were readily available on the market. Recently, resin infiltrated ceramics were introduced with optimized milling and reduced costs. In combination with multi-layered and high translucency milling blocks the dentist can chose from a wide variety of materials.
There are different preparations designs for ceramic veneers. Those with incisal overlap, incisal edge to edge, with proximal reduction, to prep-less veneers. With a limited thickness ranging from 0.6-0.9mm the veneer is required to mask the color of underlying tooth, shift the color of the restorations to much lighter shade, commonly bleach colors, and at the same time maintain sufficient strength to resist masticatory loads.
With ever increasing demand on esthetics, patients became aware about the impact of their smile on their social life. Hollywood smile became a descriptive term of teeth characterized by snow white color in optimal alignment. Such a setup gives a striking impact under studio lights and during photo sessions. A close up look reveals a different situation. Three dimensional Digital smile designs 3DSD is a new technology that allows the dentist a golden opportunity to combine patients photo shots with the digital cone beam CT skeletal background and the designed smile in one step.