One of the most common questions we get about veneers is, do you have to shave the teeth for veneers? And the short answer is that it depends. About one out of every three veneer cases we do is done with little to no shaving to the teeth. The other two out of three veneer cases that we do are done with minimal preparation or minimal shaving. If shaving is required, it is to make room for the veneers to go over the teeth so the final veneers do not look big or bulky. Traditionally for porcelain veneers, there is generally minimal teeth shaving required. For no prep porcelain veneers, there is no shaving required. And for prepless veneers, there is little shaping or contouring done prior to the porcelain veneer.
Teeth that are small and straighter could require little to no shaving. Teeth that have older dental work, teeth that are big, teeth that have lots of issues like being crooked or crowded would require more shaving to the teeth. The average thickness of a porcelain veneer is 0.3mm to 0.5mm on the front surface as well as on the edges of the teeth. So if a tooth has to be minimally shaved for veneers, this is the average amount of shaving that is needed. So nowadays you don’t always have to shave the teeth for veneers, however it depends on several factors.