Lumineers – minimally invasive ceramic veneers

What is a veneer?

A veneer is a thin layer of ceramic that is made to be added over the visible surface of a tooth. The purpose of doing this is to enhance the smile appearance. Maybe you have crowded teeth, maybe misaligned, or there are other problems as stains, cavities, or differences of size and shapes of your teeth. It doesn’t matter what is the cause but a lot of these problems can be solved with porcelain veneers. Please note that problems as infections, gingival, periodontal and rooth canal procedures should be solved prior to veneers preparation.

Why is Lumineers different? 

The main difference is in the ceramic. Not all ceramics are the same and Lumineers uses Cerinate. This makes possible a minimum thickness of 0.2 – 0.3 mm. The traditional veneer needs at least 0.5 mm. So, half the thickness, double the strength. Having this advantage, there is no need to prepare the tooth, so the tooth structure will remain intact. For the traditional veneer an important thick layer of the tooth should be removed, making the procedure sometimes painful and the tooth is altered.

The question is: Being so thin, and only adding them on the surface of the tooth, are they  strong enough? Well, yes they are! As a matter of fact you get a warranty from the producer that is on your name so you should’t worry, any problems that might occur will be fixed. Clinical testing shows that Lumineers will last over 20 years. And this is good to know especially that over 250.000 people are using them.

So, let’s see two cases that will ilustrate this better than any words. 

Case 1. 

The two lateral incisors were very small, making the smile inharmonious. This case was a simple, two appointments one. The first appointment was for impression and the second for placing the Lumineers. No shots, no pain, no preparation.

Case 2. 

This was a complex case, with 15 Lumineers and 8 ceramic zirconium crowns that needed to fit together perfectly. For the lumineers we had to perform a minimally preparation because some teeth were misaligned and needed to be reduced. The preparation was only at the enamel layer so the tooth remained vital and the procedure was nor painful at all. The lower teeth were prepared to gain space for a correct bite. We also needed to change the colour of the smile, the shape of the teeth and to replace (with porcelain zirconium bridges) the missing teeth.

Conclusion: 

These cases illustrate two situations that are suitable for Lumineers. Not all cases can be solved this way and you should ask your specialised dentist about that.

And, when you have your dream smile ready… smile, and dont forget to brush and floss!

Dr. Bogdan Fondrea - dental aesthetics and implantology