It won’t be a surprise to admit that veneers and lumineers have become the go-to way to achieve a dazzling smile. While both cosmetic dental procedures share similarities, they also exhibit distinct differences. This could be one of the reasons why many confuse between the two options or consider them interchangeably.
According to the dentist panel at the Advanced American Dental Center, here are some key differences between veneers and lumineers.
Material And Thickness
Veneers are custom-made shells that are either constructed from composite or dental porcelain. They are approximately 0.5 millimeters thick and offer the same look and feel like natural teeth.
Lumineers on the other hand, also known as “no-prep” veneers are a specific type of “veneers” that are fabricated using ultra-thin laminate. They are thinner than veneers and are roughly just 0.3 millimeters thick making them thinner and easier to be mounted on the teeth. Just like veneers, they also offer the natural look of the teeth.
Uses
Both veneers and lumineers share similar benefits. This includes correcting a wide range of dental problems such as permanent stains, poorly aligned- or shaped teeth, broken or chipped teeth, and gaps between teeth.
However, because of their thickness compared to lumineers, veneers are considered more suitable for yellow, brown or severely discolored teeth that are hard to cover up. On the other hand, the thinness of lumineers is suited mostly to correcting unusually shaped teeth to give them proper structure.
Preparation And Application Process
Veneers are applied in a multi-step process that is customized to the treatment you need. Usually, for traditional veneers, your dentist will thin down the surface of your teeth (also known as grinding) to prepare them for the veneers. A mould of your prepared teeth is used to make you a temporary acrylic veneer.
Then the mould is sent to the dental laboratory to make your custom porcelain veneers, which roughly takes 1-2 weeks to be sent back to your dental clinic. Once the veneer arrives, your dentist will then cement them to your teeth using a special bonding solution. For this entire preparation and application process, you need to make multiple dental visits.
The preparation and application of lumineers are short compared to veneers, as it doesn’t involve grinding or thinning down your teeth, and no temporary veneers are put to your teeth until the custom lumineers arrive. For lumineers, only an impression of your teeth is taken to create your custom lumineers, and once they are ready in 2-4 weeks, your dentist will bond them to your teeth. On average the preparation and application process of lumineers will only require 2 dental visits.
Durability
Veneers are a permanent procedure, which lasts up to 10-15 years with proper maintenance. In contrast, lumineers are a semi-permanent procedure, which can be removed after application with minimum damage to your teeth. Lumineers last up to 10-20 years with proper maintenance.
Some dental experts also comprehend that due to the thin nature of lumineers, they can deteriorate more quickly than veneers if not taken care of properly. In that context, veneers tend to have higher durability than lumineers.
As it’s clear, both veneers and lumineers have their own difference that makes one more advantageous than the other. However, to understand which is more suitable for your dental problem, budget, and the long term outcomes you expect, you need to seek professional dental consultation.
