Lumineers are a brand of porcelain tooth veneer manufactured by the Den-Mat corporation based out of California. They are the latest in a long line of products being offered to the public in the ever-growing market for a “brighter smile.” Their purpose, of course, is to brighten a person’s smile by placing a translucent covering on each tooth to make them appear whiter.
Lumineers are becoming a popular choice for people looking to whiten their smile, for several reasons. They are a more permanent solution than would be teeth whitening pastes or gels. And Lumineers can be made thinner than conventional veneers because they are much stronger than conventional ones. Because they are thinner they can be placed onto a person’s tooth without having to shape the tooth or having to shave off some of the original tooth surface. And that means they can be fit to a person’s teeth in less time, typically in only one or two dentist visits.
There are very few drawbacks to Lumineers. Mostly, the fit may not be perfect when applied to the tooth. This can cause edges to not be smooth between teeth, which may cause plaque to collect. A bad fit can also cause overlap of a few millimeters over the size of the real tooth and this can irritate gums. These problems can be avoided if the dentist applying the Lumineers takes time and care with their fit.
So, Lumineers are thinner, stronger, take less time to fit, don’t require dental surgery to be put in place, and are a much longer-lasting choice for whitening teeth. And in addition, because they can be applied to teeth without having to reshape the tooth itself, Lumineers can be removed if desired. Traditional porcelain veneers never had this benefit.
And their cost is quite reasonable. Although each person’s case will be different, and dentists will charge accordingly, the typical price range for Lumineer application seems to fall between $700 and $1500 dollars per tooth. Porcelain veneers can cost twice that much. According to the Lumineers official website, purchase of Lumineers does come with a five year limited warranty as long as the purchaser agrees to regular check-ups during that time. This increases the cost slightly, but then again we should all be having regular check-ups to keep our teeth healthy.
