Posted: May 22, 2012
Many of my Orange County patients ask me if I can improve their smiles by doing a smile makeover using Lumineers. The company that makes Lumineers has done a fabulous job marketing their product and bringing it to the public’s attention. They have also helped raise awareness of how important a smile is in one's personal and professional life. Lumineers will in some cases improve the appearance of a smile, but it is not the most predictable method to achieve the greatest amount of esthetic improvement of a smile. Because Lumineers add thickness to the outside of a tooth, unless teeth need to be thickened to protrude and add support to the upper lip, traditional porcelain veneers will give a superior esthetic result over Lumineers. Most smile makeovers involve patient’s smiles that are crooked, discolored, chipped, or worn teeth. Veneers can make a smile look like you had instant orthodontics. Adding additional thickness to these types of smiles with Lumineers usually makes them look artificially bulky like chiclets. Traditional veneers require a small amount of the tooth’s surface to be removed before it is replaced by the same thickness of porcelain veneer material. The veneered tooth will have the same thickness as the original tooth. This insures that the veneered tooth will have some translucency to it and will keep its life like appearance. I am a firm believer that the amount of tooth reduction for veneers should be kept to a minimum while still addressing our patient’s esthetic desires to achieve a life like, vital, fabulous smile.
