What’s the Difference Between a Lumineer and a Veneer?

Dr. Anthony Mobasser, a renowned cosmetic dentist in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, discusses the important factors that distinguish standard porcelain veneers from ultra-thin Lumineers.

A lot of people ask me, what’s the difference between a Lumineer and a veneer? A Lumineer is basically taking impressions of what you have right now, and the doctor does not touch your teeth at all. But imagine when we do that and we have to go ahead and change the color of the tooth. The is going to be a porcelain layer added to your natural tooth. So the tooth actually will look bulkier, and a lot of people won’t like that.

There is instances where the teeth are worn out already and the teeth are in and they want to add bulk to it. That’s a possibility. To do a Lumineer, a veneer is basically the doctor have to go ahead and prepare your tooth and roughen the tooth a little bit. Not much, say about 0.3 to 0.5. That’s what I like to do.

And then substitute what I have taken off by roughening your tooth a little bit with porcelain with a different color and improving the shape. Having said that, I am not very fond of doing Lumineers because they’re bulky and they can affect the gum, because there’s a bulk of porcelain added to your gum line, and that usually causes inflammation. Besides that, it’s not as natural as doing an ultra thin veneer, which I specialize in.

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.