Glossary letter index
Terms starting with V
2 terms indexed.
Veneer
A thin shell of porcelain or composite resin bonded to the front surface of a tooth to improve its appearance by altering its colour, shape, size, or length, commonly used to treat discolouration, chips, minor misalignment, or gaps. Porcelain veneers require a small amount of enamel to be removed from the tooth surface and are considered a permanent cosmetic dental treatment.
Vitrification
An ultra-rapid cryopreservation technique used in fertility treatment to freeze eggs, embryos, or sperm by plunging them into liquid nitrogen at extremely high cooling rates, converting cellular water directly to glass without the formation of ice crystals that could damage the cell's structure. It has largely replaced slow-freeze methods in modern IVF laboratories due to significantly higher post-thaw survival rates.