What’s The Difference Between Veneers and Lumineers?

What’s The Difference Between Veneers and Lumineers?

25th July 2022

Veneers and Lumineers are dental prosthetics used to cover discoloured or damaged teeth. They are some of the most popular ways to improve your smile. They protect your teeth while also boosting your smile. Let’s take a look at how the two differ from each other.

What Are Veneers?

Veneers are white shells placed over damaged, discoloured, or misaligned teeth to fix their appearance. Similar to a crown, veneers require an impression and other imaging techniques. They are then crafted to fit the front of your teeth precisely. The procedure is irreversible.

Here’s a list of issues that veneers can solve:

• Enamel wear
• Cracked and chipped tooth
• Uneven spacing
• Crooked tooth
• Discoloured tooth

Your dentist will remove a layer of your tooth before installing veneers. Tooth preparation involves grinding, shaping, and installing temporary veneers until the permanent piece is made.

What Are Lumineers?

Lumineers are a proprietary brand of veneers manufactured by DenMat, LLC. They are thinner than traditional veneers, as thin as contact lenses. Like veneers, they cover up chips and discolouration and protect your teeth from damage.

Lumineers do not require the same elaborate preparation as veneers and are potentially reversible. With Lumineers, a seamless fit is obtainable.

Pros And Cons Of Veneers

Veneers have been in existence since the 1930s. There are several kinds of veneers; porcelain veneers and resin-based are some common varieties.

What’s Good About Veneers?

Stain Resistance
Veneers are non-porous, unlike natural tooth enamel. They are bright, glossy, and white-coloured. In addition, they are stain-resistant. The only part of a veneer that might stain is its edges. Even that staining takes at least half a decade.

Covers Broken Or Stained Teeth
If you have a tooth that is severely discoloured or showing signs of decay, veneers are great for covering it up. The same goes for chipped or broken teeth. Veneers can be used to cover up irregularly shaped and sized teeth too. It can cover up all sorts of teeth abnormalities.

Lasts Long
Veneers are super durable. Porcelain veneers can last up to 15 years. But resin veneers do not last as long as porcelain. You can expect resin veneers to last from five years to seven years. You can make all traditional veneers last longer with good care.

What’s Not So Good About Veneers?

Lengthy Prep And Application Process
Installing veneers can take several weeks. You’ll have to visit your cosmetic dentist for a preliminary consultation. Following that, your dentist will shape and prepare your teeth.

Next is the moulding process, where an impression of your teeth is lifted. A temporary veneer is placed while your permanent veneer is fabricated in the laboratory. It can take 2 to 4 weeks before your permanent veneers are installed.

From start to finish, veneer installation is a lengthy process that requires multiple dentist appointments.

They’re Permanent
Your natural tooth enamel is ground down as part of getting your veneers. Thus, there is no turning back after you get your veneers. Veneers also increase the risk of gum disease since they make it hard to clean your teeth.

Pros And Cons Of Lumineers

The ultra-thin dental prosthetics are better than traditional veneers and have some disadvantages too. For instance, they require less preparation and are also easy to install. Let’s take a look at how Lumineers fare against the competition.

How Good Are Lumineers?

They’re Non-Invasive
Since Lumineers are thinner than veneers, no grinding or shaping is required to make room for the Lumineers. They are custom-made to treat your condition and fit perfectly over your teeth. And since there is no grinding involved, your natural enamel stays intact.

Shorter Timeline
Compared to veneers, Lumineers take less time to fabricate and install. No grinding is involved; only a mould is taken during your first visit. And the laboratory will ship you your custom-made Lumineers in 2 to 4 weeks.

Since there is no grinding involved, you won’t have to wear the uncomfortable temporary veneers while waiting for the permanent ones to arrive. Overall, the whole timeline is simpler and quicker.

How Aren’t Lumineers Good?

They Are Not Opaque
You cannot use Lumineers to treat severe discolouration as they are more translucent than veneers. This is because they are considerably thinner than traditional veneers.

Less Durable
Compared to veneers, Lumineers have a higher susceptibility to damage. You will have to take special care of them while brushing your teeth. Also, the durability of Lumineers depends on the material used to bond them to your teeth.

Are Veneers And Lumineers The Same As A Dental Crown?

Dental crowns cover the whole tooth and provide structural support too. On the contrary, veneers and Lumineers cover only the front of the tooth and do not provide any structural benefit. They are purely cosmetic, covering up damages and discolouration.

What Should I Choose?

Veneers and Lumineers are equally effective in correcting dental abnormalities. But as you can see above, they have their pros and cons. Before making your choice, consider the following factors.

How severe is your tooth discolouration? Lumineers cannot cover up severe discolouration, unlike veneers, because of their translucency.

How much time can you spend on the process? Lumineers take far less time to install compared to veneers. They require fewer appointments too.

How invasive of a procedure are you willing to undergo? Veneers installation is an invasive process that requires grinding and shaping your teeth before a mould is made. But Lumineers are non-invasive, pain and anaesthetic-free, and easy to install.

How much are you willing to pay? Since most insurance companies do not cover cosmetic procedures, the cost can be a major determinant in choosing between the two.

Comparatively, Lumineers can cost less than veneers considering the number of appointments and steps involved in the installation. Each veneer case varies and we prefer to have minimal preparation veneers or ultrathin veneers. Get in touch with your dentist to learn more about the veneers cost.