Lumineers

What is a Lumineer?

Lumineer is a brand name of porcelain veneer and the company is the first to market to the public.  They are a type of veneer that's promoted for a no-preparation of the teeth technique.

What Happens?

Lumineers are thin ceramic shells that are placed over teeth that have not been prepared to receive them. It is a conservative procedure in theory, where the veneers are simply bonded to the teeth in single visit with no drilling and no pain.

What they don't tell you?

Lumineers are promoted as being the no-pain no-drilling solution to veneers. This is not true. If your teeth are too small or you have gaps you want to have filled, then chances are you won't need to have any tooth reduction. However, in most other cases some tooth reduction will be needed.

The reality is that only a very small percentage of patients would be well served with this procedure due to its tendency to leave the teeth over contoured, bulky and quite unaesthetic.

My Call

Lumineers can be made well and they can be made very poorly.  They key is to find a highly skilled trustworthy dentist and let them guide you to the solution that is right for your situation.  No Prep veneers can be wonderful for a small set of cases. The vast majority of cases require at least some reduction to end up looking like real teeth.

Lumineers are not the answer for every case, and in fact are probably not a good solution in most cases. The ramifications of over-contoured teeth, aside from them being unaesthetic, are the fact that it is unhealthy for the gum tissues that support the teeth. I often see irritated or inflamed gum tissue around teeth that are bulky or over-contoured. This may lead to periodontal disease (destruction of the structures that support the teeth).

The Cost: Most of the time the patient will need any where from 6-8 veneers placed per arch to get good aesthetics. At the cost of $1000-1200 per veneer, you are looking at $6000-8000 per arch.