Porcelain Veneers vs Lumineers with Dr. Anthony Mobasser

Dr. Anthony Mobasser, a Beverly Hills cosmetic dentist, discusses the difference between Lumineers and porcelain veneers.

Lumineers are actually one segment of doing a veneer or porcelain veneer; they’re both veneers, and they’re both porcelain. The difference between a lumineer, which we also call a no-prep veneer, is that it’s the most conservative way of placing a veneer on the tooth. That means the tooth is not shaped; that’s called lumineer.

Any time a cosmetic dentist comes in and does any kind of shaping, that’s not considered lumineer; now you’re getting to minimal prep veneers. So lumineers, it’s indicated for some cases, but not for all cases. Who are candidates for lumineers? We have to see you in order to determine that. The bite has a lot to do with it; the bite of the individual determines if you are a candidate for lumineers, because if you don’t have room to add any type of porcelain in the edge of the teeth, you’re not a candidate, so that’s a very important fact.

And it depends on the alignment of your teeth. If you’re already misaligned, and we go ahead and put veneers on the top of the teeth without shaping them, unfortunately they might come a little bit bulky. Although lumineers are ultra thin, I would say .2-.5 millimeters, that little adding to the existing teeth without preparation would make the patient uncomfortable.

By the way on the lumineers, I’m limited as far as the shift of color. That means, like, when an individual comes to me, and wants to have a Hollywood white smile, and unfortunately their teeth are darkened or they have some other color variation on them but they want to have a Hollywood white, since we are adding thin veneers to those teeth, we have to make it real thick in order to change the color, because if you put just white porcelain veneer on top of a tooth that’s not shaped, to make it a veneer, your original color will show through.

With porcelain veneers, however, we have the freedom to change the shape of the tooth, and to make the length of the tooth different, make the length to width ratio exactly harmonious, and it restores the beauty and the proportion of the teeth amazingly. With the veneers, we have the freedom to match the color of the porcelain veneers to the white of your eyes, to the lip shape, and your skin tone color.

If you are considering lumineers or porcelain veneers and have questions about the differences, contact Dr. Anthony Mobasser today to arrange a free consultation.

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.