Considering Lumineers, Veneers or Crowns with Dr. Anthony Mobasser

Consider lumineers or crowns for your dental procedure. To learn how Dr. Mobasser can help you achieve the best smile.

Considering Lumineers, Veneers, or Crowns

When implementing lumineers or no-prep veneers, we are not removing any tooth structure from your enamel. We are using your existing teeth and basically adding a layer of porcelain onto them. When we do that, you have to keep in mind that we will have to add at least 0.3 to 0.5 millimeters, this is the minimum amount of porcelain that can be added to your tooth. You might not think that 0.3 millimeters is a lot, but when that is added to your tooth, it might feel and look a little bulky especially around the neck of each tooth, which can make it unnatural to an expert eye, so it all depends on your expectations.

On the other hand, lumineers are great because they don’t need any anesthesia and we are using your own natural teeth and just adding a bit. It depends on how picky you are. If you do not like bulky teeth, we do not recommend lumineers. However, lumineers can be great for certain other areas. Let’s say you have black space between the cheek on your side teeth, basically having a narrow arch, but wanting a fuller smile. In that case, lumineers or no-prep veneers can actually help you tremendously, because we need to actually bulk up those areas. That’s a great plus.

As far as lumineers go, these used to be done only with the DenMat company, where lumineers come from. However, dentists are now using no-prep veneers, which means they are the same thing except that they now use different stronger materials, such as lithium disilicate, Emax lumineers and in some cases zirconia lumineers. As a matter of fact, we can use different materials that are much stronger than traditional cerinate porcelain used by Den Mat company.

lumineers

Now, veneers are a type of restoration where the cosmetic dentist takes away from half a millimeter to a full millimeter off the teeth. The amount that is removed from the teeth structure is going to be substituted by porcelain. The great advantage of that is that we can go ahead and, if the teeth are maybe misaligned a little bit, make them into a perfect smile and alignment.

The other benefit of dental porcelain veneers, they can look very natural and not look bulky. Veneers are very technique-sensitive and they can give great results, in the hand of an expert veneer dentist. However, one must know that cosmetics must always go hand in hand with functionality of the teeth. The bite or occlusion of the patient needs to be checked to eliminate occlusal disease. With lumineers, if you have a tight bite or short LOWER teeth due to wear or bruxing, you can NOT just add only 10 lumineers, since they will interfere with the rest of your bite and back teeth may not touch. With veneers, you can!! Since you are reducing the length first and substituting it with stronger porcelain. Although porcelain veneers will involve a few extra steps it is well worth it vs lumineers or no prep veneers. Upper teeth are a different story because upper teeth are usually for cosmetic reasons and the lower teeth have more to do with establishing both function and Aesthetic.

Crowns are usually done for teeth that are already compromised. This could be because the tooth is cracked or it had a large filling that is now failing. With crowns, we basically remove tooth structure around the circumference of the tooth. So, this is a 360 degrees removal of tooth structure and a cap, or porcelain crown, or dental crown comes on top of the damaged tooth to protect the tooth during function.

There are indications for each procedure. The least invasive process is the lumineers one, but then again this depends on the patients’ expectations. If you are not comfortable with bulkier teeth, Lumineers or No-prep veneers are not for you. That’s why it’s so important for you to come into the office to check your bite and the alignment of the teeth. Also, if you are doing lumineers and you have very dark teeth, don’t expect the lumineers to have a bleach-white color, since with 0.3 millimeter porcelain placed on a dark tooth, some of the existing color of the tooth can show through. So lumineers are not indicated for changing an original dark colored tooth to bleached Hollywood white teeth.

You might need lumineers, you might need veneers, or you might need crowns. Again, crowns are the most necessarily radical procedure for they involve complete 360 degrees reduction of tooth structure, so to protect the tooth. Whenever possible, Dr. Mobasser tends to go with veneers because, once you get a veneer done you can always get a crown, but if you get a crown done you can never go back to a veneer.

I literally could not speak more highly of Dr. Mobasser. He fixed my bite and did the full top and bottom veneers on me. It changed my life. I get compliments on my smile every single day. His work is absolutely perfect and unmatched by any dentist. I wouldn’t trust anyone else working on my teeth after seeing how he works. His office visits aren’t like any normal dentist’s. He only works on one patient at a time, you have his undivided attention, and he makes the experience so pleasant. His front desk and dental assistant are also the sweetest people ever. If you need any cosmetic work done, Dr. Mobasser is the one to do it. You would be hard-pressed to find a better cosmetic dentist. There is a real he’s world-renowned. He is, for lack of a better word, the best there is. – Sherri A.