Lumineers…..and great alternatives

When deciding whether to choose Lumineers or an alternative,  it is important to understand exactly what each are, how they are fitted, and what the long term pros and cons are.  A veneer is a thin covering over another surface. In dental terms, Lumineers and Porcelain Veneers do just that, they cover the surface of a tooth. Veneers are used to cover teeth that are discolored, cracked or chipped in situations where a crown may not be appropriate. If all porcelain veneers are chosen, Dr. Powell could use our Cerec restorations for same day service!

Porcelain veneers have been around for a long time and they have developed a good reputation with both dentists and patients. They do, however, require quite a lot of preparation before they can be applied. Dr. Powell will need to reshape your tooth slightly before fitting the veneer to the tooth’s surface. This reshaping is generally done using a local anesthetic to avoid any discomfort. Once the tooth has been reshaped, a mold is made of the reshaped tooth which is then sent away to a laboratory where the veneer is custom made for your tooth.

In deciding which is best for you, a frank discussion with Dr. Powell is in order.  Because they are so thin, Lumineers will not hide any dark stains on your teeth. If you have dark stains, you will need to look at porcelain veneers.  We offer a free Lumineers consult to help you decide which treatment is best for you.

The down side to porcelain veneers is that they cannot be reversed. Once a tooth has been reshaped, that reshaping is permanent. However, porcelain veneers have a history of being long lasting and if problems do arise, they can be replaced. Most dentist still prefer to use porcelain veneers, however that is due primarily to their long history. Lumineers are a relatively new technology so they don’t have a long history that can be used as a comparison.

If you don’t have anything you are trying to “hide” on your front teeth, there are alternatives that preserve healthy tooth structure such as Six Month Smiles, or just some minor tooth movement.

Six Month Smiles allows us to move the teeth you see when you smile. It’s “adult” braces with tooth colored brackets and wires. It’s geared toward adults, and we have had some fabulous results with the cases we have completed .  It definitely enables you to save your tooth structure if there are no clinical defects or problems with the structure of your enamel. Six Month Smiles are for patients with mild-moderate crowding or patients with space they want to close up. It’s non-invasive, which means we do not have to alter your enamel doing by doing any preparation.

The Minor Tooth Movement involves the minor movement of front teeth with our “clear aligner” trays. This is best when you have only one or two teeth that look good,  but just not quite where you want them.

Some patients, in severe cases , may benefit best from a combination of moving teeth and the veneers. Come in for a free consult to see how we can make your smile work for you!

There is one guarantee if you make the right choice – you will have a great smile again!