Three of the most common procedures in cosmetic dentistry are bleaching, bonding, and the application of laminate veneers.  All are most often performed on the front teeth, since those are the most visible ones, and are all generally painless.

Bleaching works on your teeth much as it does on your clothes, by lightening discoloration and stains caused by coffee, tea, food, tobacco, and age.

Visits: Six to eight teeth can be bleached during one visit, but teeth may need to be bleached several times to get them the closest to their natural color.

Durability: Bleached teeth may need touching up every year.

How teeth are bleached:
.....1. A clear, warm peroxide solution is applied to the stained teeth and activated with heat or a combination of heat and light.
.....2. The peroxide solution is rinsed off, revealing lighter-colored teeth.

Bonding restores teeth that have suffered damage, such as chips or cracks, or that are discolored or misaligned.  A plastic resin somewhat like putty is used to rebuild the teeth and make them look normal.

Visits: Because each tooth may require one to three hours of work, bonding more than one tooth may require multiple visits.

Durability: A bonded tooth usually lasts three to five years before it may need a touch-up to correct wear or discoloration.

How teeth are bonded:
.....1. Tooth-colored plastic in putty form (called composite resin) is applied to the tooth and shaped to fill in chips or correct other problems.
.....2. The resin is exposed for 20 to 60 seconds to a bonding light that dries and hardens it. Then it is smoothed and polished.

Laminate veneers are hard, tooth-shaped shells that are cemented onto the surface of prepared teeth in much the same way false fingernails are applied.  Made of porcelain or composite resin, they correct or camouflage the same problems that bonding does -- discoloration, damage, or misalignment -- but the veneers last longer.

Visits: One visit is needed to prepare the tooth and take an impression, and a second is needed to apply the veneer.

Durability: The life span of veneers is estimated at 10-40 years. When properly maintained veneers can potentially last a life time.

How laminate veneers are applied:
.....1. During the first visits, the teeth are buffed to remove a thin layer of enamel; then an impression of the teeth is taken. Between visits the laminate veneers are made. During the second visit, the teeth are etched with an acidic solution and painted with cement.
.....2. Once the veneers are applied to the surface of the teeth, the cement is hardened with a bonding light. Then the veneers are polished so they look like natural teeth.