The art of minimal tooth reduction for veneer restorations

Abstract Minimal tooth reduction is crucial for the long-term success of adhesive restorations. It has been proven that bonding to enamel is more predictable in obtaining better long-term success than dentin due to its higher percentage of mineral content. The diagnostic wax-up and subsequent mock-up are the first diagnostic tools available to evaluate discrepancies between current and ideal tooth proportions. The intraoral mock-up provides the patient a tactile and visual evaluation of the size, shape, and shade of the proposed final restorations, and at the same time, the clinician can evaluate the smile line, lip support, phonetics, and occlusion. During the tooth preparation, the mock-up provides a reduction guide to the clinician to achieve the minimal required reduction for the final restoration avoiding the over-reduction and dentin exposure. This clinical report shows feldspathic veneer restorations provided with conservative tooth preparation. The long-term success of the restoration requires following well-defined protocols for restorative material selection, conservative tooth preparation, total isolation with rubber dam, and bonding ceramic protocols.