Creating a Hollywood smile using lumineers (before and after photos)

• What are lumineers - before and after photos.
• cost for 2022 in Moscow,
• veneers or lumineers: which is better?

Lumineers™ are ultra-thin ceramic veneers that are bonded to the front surfaces of teeth to improve their appearance without requiring the removal of tooth enamel. Lumineers were developed in the United States of America by DenMat. This unusual name is now trademarked, so no other company can call their ultra-thin veneers "Lumineers™" - even if they have exactly the same characteristics.

There are 2 types of original lumineers - Lumineers® CERINATE and Lumineers® DUO. The first ones are of higher quality, because They are made individually based on an impression of the patient’s teeth. For such lumineers, the price for 1 tooth in Moscow will average from 60,000 rubles. The second option is the so-called “Lumineers for the poor”, the cost of which in dentistry will be 2 times lower. In this case, ready-made lumineers sets are installed on the teeth, which are available in several colors and sizes. And before fixing them, the doctor will adapt them to your teeth (file them).

Ultra-thin veneers without grinding teeth: photo

You must understand that Lumineers are not the only very thin veneers of their kind, and are simply a proprietary trade name. Therefore, when you even hear about thin veneers or ultra-veneers, they are all the same as the original Lumineers®. As you will see below, reviews of original lumineers are rarely positive, unless, of course, you have high aesthetic requirements. And here the high price should not mislead you into thinking that you will get truly Hollywood veneers.

There are very thin veneers available under other brands, most notably very thin glass-ceramic veneers IPS-Emax®. Other brands are Vivaneers® and DaVinci®. In this article we will not engage in advertising, and will show you photos and videos of patients after installation of lumineers, so that you can form your own idea.

Veneers or Lumineers: which is better to choose?

So, what is the difference between veneers and lumineers? Firstly, according to advertising, original lumineers have a thickness of only 0.2 mm, which makes it unnecessary to grind off the enamel from the front surface of the teeth. Firstly, this is not entirely true, because... the manufacturer’s official instructions indicate a more plausible thickness – “0.3-0.7 mm”. Moreover, you can expect a thickness of 0.3-0.4 mm only from Lumineers® CERINATE, i.e. This is an option for custom-made lumineers.

If you think that by gluing a layer of only 0.2-0.3 mm to the surface of the tooth, it will not be noticeable - you are mistaken. In fact, even this thickness will greatly increase the size of the teeth. Therefore, if you have large teeth, then even the thinnest lumineers or veneers will make them really “horse-like.” And therefore, when in advertising they talk about “unnecessary grinding of teeth”, this is just a marketing ploy. In fact, this is only possible in patients with small teeth and wide interdental spaces.

For Lumineers® DUO (ready-made veneers), the thickness will be already 0.6-0.7 mm, which in principle corresponds to the thickness of classic ceramic veneers and always requires grinding off the enamel layer on the front surface of the teeth. Otherwise, you will have very large, massive teeth. By the way, we already said above that other companies also produce ultra-thin veneers. There are several brands, but the best, in our opinion, are ultra-thin Emax pressed glass ceramic veneers (they are also only 0.3-0.4 mm thick).

What is the difference between veneers and lumineers –

Pay attention to the photo below. Classic ceramic veneers have a thickness of 0.6 mm (a little more at the cutting edge - 0.7 mm). In turn, thin veneers, by which we mean both classic Lumineers® and pressed glass-ceramic Emax, have the same thickness of 0.3-0.4 mm.

Conclusions: but then you get veneers and lumineers - what is the difference? When buying original lumineers, the cost of which ranges from 30,000 to 60,000 rubles (for 1 unit), you are buying exclusively the brand and the advertising slogan “no grinding of teeth.” But again, the statement that it is unnecessary to grind teeth under lumineers is a very controversial point, and this is possible only in the rarest cases. As you will see in the before and after photos below, increasing the thickness of the teeth by just 0.2-0.3 mm without grinding them down significantly increases the size of the teeth.

A thin veneer made of pressed glass ceramics E.max will cost you from 21,000 rubles, and at the same time it has the same thickness. Manufacturer E.max (Ivoclar Vivadent, Germany) - in this case, it could also say that there is no need to grind the teeth, but due to professional ethics, it does not do this. Below you can see how, after fixing lumineers without grinding the teeth, the latter look like giant plastic crowns (although later we will show you several cases of successful use of lumineers).

Comparison of original Lumineers and Emax (video) –

Video 1 – original Lumineers® CERINATE, video 2 – thin E.max veneers (without grinding teeth).

As for the strength of lumineers, the original Lumineers® are made from Cerinate brand porcelain with a bending strength of about 110 MPa. Porcelain is nothing more than feldspathic ceramics. In turn, the bending strength of thin veneers made of pressed ceramic E.max PRESS will be about 400 MPa. This affects the risk of chipping of the ceramic mass and service life. In principle, after this, as a dentist, I simply have nothing special to add, and indeed, when Emax ceramics first appeared, for us dentists it was really a revolution in the class of materials.

Indications

Lumineers are indicated in the following cases:

• chipped teeth;
• aesthetic defects;
• damage to tooth enamel;
• the presence of teeth and diastemas (gaps between teeth);
• fillings that have changed color;
• “tetracycline” teeth;
• fluorosis;
• the presence of crowns on the front teeth.

It is recommended to install onlays for people with a predisposition to tooth abrasion and when their teeth are slightly crooked.

Lumineers for teeth: indications for use

Due to their small thickness, fragility, and high transparency, lumineers on teeth have a fairly large number of contraindications (the list of which is even longer than that of conventional veneers). Therefore, during the initial examination, the dentist will look at whether veneers or lumineers are better in relation to your situation. The list of indications for lumineers is quite modest, and each indication also has a lot of restrictions related to the size of the teeth, gum inflammation, etc.

• Masking stains and cracks on enamel, fillings - we are talking about color disturbances that cannot be neutralized with chemical bleaching. These may be small stains, enamel cracks or fillings that are visible against the background of the tooth’s own tissues. High-quality lumineers should a priori be quite transparent, and therefore they are not suitable for masking bright spots. And if you make them opaque, they will look more like bright white plastic than natural tooth enamel.

• Correcting minor bite problems - firstly - they will close small gaps between teeth, for example, diastema. Secondly, if the teeth are located unevenly in the dentition, they can be used to achieve the effect of visual alignment of the dentition (this occurs due to the fact that when installing lumineers on only some teeth, they will increase the thickness of these teeth).

• Teeth lightening – with the help of lumineers you can visually lighten your teeth by 1-2 shades. It is possible, but it is still better to do this using chemical bleaching - it will be both more effective and cheaper.

Important: as you already understand, the use of lumineers will only be effective for eliminating minor aesthetic problems in the front teeth. To eliminate pronounced problems: bright spots, wide interdental spaces, chipped cutting edges, to change the inclination of the tooth, etc. – veneers of standard thickness should be used.

Bottom line

Lumineers are a modern means of improving the aesthetics of a smile without harming the enamel. These are ultra-thin plates that cover the teeth and create a cosmetic effect. Lumineers are expensive, but they have the longest service life. These plates can be used to mask small defects: chips, stains on the enamel, installed fillings, small irregularities, interdental gaps.

Lumineers are one of the significant advances in cosmetic dentistry. Just a month after your first visit to the doctor, you can boast of a snow-white Hollywood smile, increase your self-esteem and become more confident in communicating with people. However, the use of microprosthetics is not indicated for everyone, since the plates are not able to correct severe jaw defects - malocclusion, broken teeth, pathology of hard tissues. Before installation, a consultation with a dentist and a thorough diagnosis of the condition of the jaw and bone tissue is necessary.

Sources used:

• Abolmasov N. G., Abolmasov N. N., Bychkov V. A., A. Al-Hakim “Orthopedic dentistry”, M., 2003
• I. Yu. Lebedenko, Orthopedic dentistry, 2012
• Smoking and periodontal disease // Australian Dental Journal. — 2009.
• The American Academy of Periodontology

Lumineers: before and after photos

Below you can see what Lumineers look like before and after – photos of real patients. In this section we have published photos of the most successful cases of treatment. Below (in the “Reviews” section) you can also see photos of not very successful cases of treatment, when teeth began to look artificial and not natural (24stoma.ru).

How to install veneers

Installation of ceramic veneers:

1. Special casts are prepared. Based on them, the dental technician makes plates in the laboratory.
2. Temporary plastic onlays are glued onto the prepared teeth.
3. Replace plastic pads with permanent ones after 2-4 weeks. Permanent plates are fixed to the teeth using special cement.

Composite veneers are usually placed in one visit to the dental office. The doctor, under anesthesia, prepares the patient's teeth, after which a composite material is applied to them, layer by layer, achieving the desired shade.

Unfortunately, this type of restoration is less durable. Without regular polishing, the finish quickly becomes dull. It soon loses its original shine.

Lumineers: price for 1 tooth in Moscow

How much do lumineers cost? The price for 1 tooth will be from 30,000 to 60,000 rubles, if we talk about original products (USA). This company produces 2 versions of lumineers - Lumineers® CERINATE and DUO, which differ in price.

• Cost Lumineers® CERINATE are custom-made lumineers that are created from impressions of the patient's teeth.
  Their cost will be from 50,000 to 70,000 rubles per 1 unit. This price includes manufacturing, installation and all associated costs except delivery. The cost of delivery (regardless of the number of lumineers) will be about another 40,000 rubles. Today, the American company DenMat produces Lumineers® CERINATE not only in its own laboratory in the United States, but also in 2 more laboratories, one each in Italy and Luxembourg. No other dental laboratory worldwide is authorized to produce such thin veneers under the Lumineers® brand.

• Cost Lumineers® DUO are no longer individually made, but sets of ready-made lumineers, available in several sizes and colors.
  Looking at your teeth, the doctor will select the right headset option that will best suit your teeth. But in any case, you must understand that they will not fit your teeth exactly in shape, and therefore, after fixing them on your teeth, they will take a long time to grind with a drill, bringing them to perfection. Lumineers® DUO Lumineers are a hybrid of Cerinate porcelain and a composite filling material. In fact, they are no better than composite veneers costing 8,000-9,000 rubles, which are made entirely from light-polymer composite filling material. Their only advantage over individually made lumineers/thin veneers is the possibility of fixation immediately on the day of visiting the dentist.

• Thin veneers from E.max – pressed glass ceramics E.max is one of the best types of ceramics used in dentistry. This material closely matches natural tooth enamel in terms of optical properties, and therefore allows veneers or crowns made from this material to be given a very high level of aesthetics, which is simply unattainable with original Lumineers®. At the same time, the price for E.max is on average from 21,000 rubles (for 1 unit).
  Type of thin E.max veneers – before and after photos

How to care for lumineers so that they last longer?

Of course, the durability of the onlays depends on oral care. In order for lumineers to retain their characteristics for as long as possible, the patient must adhere to the following recommendations:

• Complete oral care at home. Cleaning should be at least twice a day. For hygiene, you should use not only a brush, but also an irrigator, floss, and thread to thoroughly remove excess food and clean the interdental spaces;
• Don't take risks by eating foods that are too hard. This applies to seeds, nuts, berries and fruits with seeds. Despite the fact that lumineers are made of ultra-strong material, they will not withstand if the patient bites a pistachio with his teeth or eats dried fish;
• Regular visits to the dentist. The dentist will check the condition of the oral cavity and make sure the quality of fit of each plate. Despite the visually flawless appearance, teeth with lumineers also require professional cleaning.

Lumineers: reviews, clinical studies

Research shows that lumineers have a lifespan that is rarely comparable to the 15-25 year lifespan of conventional veneers. Several studies have shown that the lifespan of lumineers is usually less than ten years. However, all these studies were conducted in Europe and the USA, where the quality of medical care is disproportionately higher, and where patients are largely protected from situations where a doctor recommends a service, even seeing that it is not very suitable for the patient (for example, there is an increased risk of chipping ceramics).

In the United States, approximately only 5-6% of doctors use lumineers in their practice. The survey revealed the main reason - it is very difficult to restore aesthetics with the help of lumineers. The majority of American dentists surveyed in this study said that they simply could not achieve the same realistic, natural appearance of teeth with Lumineers that they could achieve with regular veneers.

Lumineers can be of different transparency. More transparent lumineers look natural on teeth, but do not mask tooth color problems well. More opaque lumineers are better at eliminating enamel color problems, but they give the teeth an absolutely unnatural appearance (Fig. 8-11), and a compromise here is difficult to achieve.

Lumineers: before and after photos

Cost of this service

The price of lumineers is quite high - $1000 per unit of product. This is determined by the completion of the work and the cost of delivery of the product.

Not every dental specialist will be able to carry out the installation procedure efficiently, and not everyone has sufficient knowledge in this area. When turning to a doctor with such a request, you need to make sure how much his professionalism meets the requirements of the procedure performed. Incorrect installation of onlays will lead to spoiled appearance of teeth and the development of diseases. This happens due to the formation of small cracks, which become a haven for bacteria and the accumulation of dental plaque.

If we talk about manufacturing, it is produced only in the USA using special ceramics using patented technology. The cost of the overlays includes delivery of the goods. The first thing that should alert a patient when choosing a dental clinic and specialist is when such a service costs less than $700.

Sources used:

• "Glossary of Dental Clinical and Administrative Terms"
• Optimization of dental restoration with ceramic inlays / Ziliya Chaika, Galina Ivanovna Ron. - M.: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2012.
• Orthopedic treatment of pathological abrasion of hard dental tissues / Kh.A. Kalamkarov. — M.: Medicine

Disadvantages of lumineers: summary

• A noticeable increase in the thickness of the teeth - an increase in the thickness of the teeth by the thickness of the lumineers (0.2-0.3 mm) - will be very noticeable, i.e.
  visually the teeth will become much more massive. Increasing the size of teeth can even affect a person's speech, lip articulation, and in some cases, it becomes difficult for some patients to simply close their lips completely. Therefore, if you already have large teeth, then it is better to consider the option of installing lumineers or veneers with grinding down the enamel layer. Increasing the thickness of the teeth, of course, can be a plus, but only when the teeth are small, as well as in the situation of uneven teeth (when gluing lumineers to certain teeth will visually level out the slight curvature of the teeth relative to each other).

• Artificial appearance of teeth - as we said earlier: more transparent lumineers are quite poor at masking dark teeth or bright spots, and installing less transparent lumineers immediately leads to the fact that the teeth look less natural - as if there were plastic crowns on the teeth.
  In addition, the teeth look much more massive, which also does not improve their aesthetics. However, in the eyes of many people, the quick and painless placement of Lumineers, which does not require any grinding of teeth, is an advantage that simply outweighs the lack of good aesthetics of Lumineers. The presence of too bulky and less natural teeth in some patients does not cause concern, because... What’s more important to them is that they just became whiter.

• Caries and inflammation of the gums occur more often - the installation of lumineers occurs without grinding the tooth, which leads to the formation of small protrusions in the interdental spaces and the gum area.
  Firstly, it complicates hygiene and contributes to the accumulation of microbial plaque, pigment plaque and tartar. And if you are not going to brush your teeth after every meal (both with a brush and floss), fixing lumineers will certainly provoke the development of caries and gum inflammation. Secondly, the ledge in the gingival area contributes to chronic gum injury. Trauma to the gums leads to inflammation, and in the long term can lead to loss of bone tissue around the tooth and the development of gum recession (exposure of the tooth root). If deterioration in hygiene and chronic gum injury occur simultaneously, lumineers very quickly become a problem.

Advantages and disadvantages

The following advantages, highlighted by dentists and patients who have already installed them on their teeth, will help you make a decision in favor of installing lumineers:

• the tooth cannot be ground before installation;
• The complete procedure from the first consultation to installation takes a minimum of time ; you will have to visit the dentist 2-3 times;
• no need for anesthesia;
• temporary dentures or onlays are not installed;
• the composition of the products is absolutely non-toxic and harmless , incompatibility is completely excluded;
• the enamel does not become more sensitive , and the lumineer itself does not darken even after several years with regular consumption of cola, coffee or red wine;
• the glue with which the ceramic overlays are fixed contains fluorine, thus at the same time the tooth is also subjected to a fluoridation procedure;
• high level of aesthetics - the product is practically indistinguishable in color and texture from a natural unit;
• the patient does not experience any discomfort, there is no adaptation period ;
• testing has shown that lumineers can last several decades , that is, virtually until the end of life;
• can be removed - all functions are retained after removing the plates .

If we talk about shortcomings, they practically do not exist. The teeth may look slightly larger, but an ignorant person will hardly notice the difference.

So far, only the high cost is deterring us - they are made only in the USA, so the price is quite understandable.

Veneers or Lumineers: Summary

If you are faced with a choice: lumineers and veneers, the difference between them lies in what is more important for you specifically.
You will have to choose between the excellent aesthetics and long service life of veneers (with minimal grinding of 0.3 mm of enamel from the front surface of the tooth) and just the satisfactory aesthetics of lumineers, but without grinding the teeth. The bottom line is that with veneers you can achieve a more realistic natural aesthetics, and with lumineers this can only be achieved in very rare cases... For example, when you have both small teeth and slightly wide interdental spaces, and there are no dark spots teeth or bright spots on them - only in this case can lumineers be made sufficiently translucent and not too bulky.

In addition, Lumineers are ideal for patients who require only minimal changes to the shape and color of their teeth. Remember that good lumineers are always translucent, but in this case they are unable to disguise the dark color and bright stains on the teeth. If the doctor uses opaque lumineers to cover more noticeable tooth discolorations, your teeth will always look artificial and unnatural.

Important: but there is one more very important feature that makes the original Lumineers® CERINATE and DUO even less aesthetic in comparison with veneers. The fact is that the original Lumineers will not be manufactured in the clinic (where you go), but in one of 3 dental laboratories located in the USA or Europe. At the clinic, they will first take impressions of your teeth and send them to one of these laboratories.

This means that you will only see the finished Lumineers when they are delivered, and even if you don’t like their shape or color, there is nothing you can do. Therefore, it is best to opt for thin veneers without grinding made of pressed ceramic E.max - they will be made in a dental laboratory at any clinic. Moreover, at the fitting stage, you can still ask to change the color or shape if you don’t like something.

And the last point - get standard or thin veneers only in those clinics that have their own dental laboratory located in the clinic itself. In this case, the prosthetist will be in close contact with the dental technician, and the latter will also be able to look at you in the chair (both at the stage of taking impressions and during fitting of the work). Believe me, this will allow the dental technician to achieve better aesthetics.

Teeth straightening technology

Installing these plates to straighten teeth involves several steps.

• At the first visit, mandatory preparation
  . This could be treatment or professional hygiene.
• Next, you need to make an impression of the patient’s teeth
  .
• Then the doctor, using 3D computer technology, models the appearance of the smile
  that the patient wants to achieve.
• After this, you need to wait for the plates to be made according to the impression and for their delivery.
• Already during the second visit (if there was no need for preliminary treatment), fitting and installation
  using special adhesive compositions.

Installation of lumineers –

To receive custom-made Lumineers® Cerinate, you will need to visit your dentist twice. During your first visit, your dentist will take impressions of your upper and lower teeth, take photographs of your teeth, and discuss the color and transparency of your future lumineers with you. This will end your first visit, and the clinic will immediately send your impressions to the dental laboratory.

During your second visit (after about 1 month), you will be invited back to the clinic, and the dentist will install ready-made lumineers on your teeth. To fix them, a special super strong “cement” is used, which will make your teeth and the lumineers glued to them one whole. Finally, the dentist must check the contacts between the upper and lower teeth. This is important because If the chewing pressure is not distributed evenly on the teeth, this can lead to breakage of some lumineers.

If you chose not the original Lumineers® Cerinate, but thin E.max glass-ceramic veneers, then their production time will take about 1.5-2 weeks. And in our opinion, individually made thin E.max veneers will truly be the best choice, both in terms of price and quality.

Installation of lumineers from standard sets –

If you install lumineers from ready-made standardized sets of Lumineers® DUO (Fig. 15-16), keep in mind that they will not take into account the characteristics of your teeth. This means that after fixing the lumineers, there will be small steps between the teeth and in the gum area, which will be impossible to completely remove. In general, these are ordinary dental veneers - the price of which will still be very high.

Lumineers® DUO can be installed the same day you visit your dentist. After fixing them to the teeth with a special composite “glue”, the doctor will grind them with a drill for a long time, bringing their appearance to perfection (after which a very thorough polishing process will still be required).

Write a comment

• Alice

  February 17, 2015 at 10:19 am

  Oh, what a beauty this is. People’s smiles became positively radiant. The author mentioned the expensive price of luminars, and more specifically, how much it can cost on average. The most interesting thing is that this procedure will become more accessible in a few years. I also think that it protects your teeth, which is undoubtedly a big plus.

  admin

  February 18, 2015 at 3:51 am

  Read also:  Caring for removable dentures. Advice from professionals.

  Hello Alice. You can learn more about the cost of lumineers from a separate review we prepared, located at the following address:

Lumineers: contraindications for use

Because Since lumineers are fixed to the teeth without first grinding off the enamel, they are made without overlapping the cutting edge (otherwise the teeth simply won’t fit together normally - that’s one thing, and chips of the ceramic will immediately appear - that’s two things). Clinical studies show that incisal overlapping veneers are always more resistant to porcelain chipping than non-overlapping veneers.

Thus, the number of contraindications for lumineers will be even greater than for veneers. And here it is also important to take into account that lumineers will be strictly contraindicated for patients with chronic, low-grade inflammation of the gums, as well as patients with irregular oral hygiene (especially those who do not use dental floss after every meal).

Lumineers are not recommended –

• with increased tooth wear,
• in the absence of lateral chewing teeth (overloading the front teeth in this case will lead to breakage of the lumineers),
• when practicing contact and extreme sports,
• with bruxism,
• if you have a habit of biting your nails, biting off threads, gnawing seeds, etc.
• in the presence of traumatic occlusion,
• in the presence of a direct or reverse bite,
• cannot be installed on teeth treated with the resorcinol-formalin method.

Contraindications and side effects

There are practically no contraindications to installing lumineers. The doctor may recommend another method of aesthetic restoration if the patient has weakened teeth that are prone to loosening - for example, with periodontitis, or if the enamel is very thin.

Relative contraindications are pathological abrasion of enamel (bruxism) and extremely poor bite. But after eliminating the problem, it is quite possible to use lumineers to create an attractive smile.

There are also no side effects if the installation technology is followed. Problems can only arise if the products were installed by an inexperienced or irresponsible doctor.

In this case, during the operation of the product, a gap may appear between the ceramic plate and the gum. Residues of food will get into it, which will lead to the growth of bacteria and possible inflammation.

This is a completely optional phenomenon, which is very easy to avoid by choosing a reputable clinic and a qualified specialist to carry out the procedure.

Can Lumineers be removed over time?

There is usually an opinion that since the surface of the teeth is not ground down under lumineers (in most cases), they can be removed completely painlessly. You may be surprised, but this is not true. Of course, you can try to grind down the lumineers with a drill, but this is a very long process, and this does not mean that the surface of the tooth is not damaged. Lumineers are glued to the enamel using a very strong “cement” that firmly binds the lumineers to the tooth surface. We hope that our article: Lumineers photos before and after price - was useful to you!

Sources:

1. Personal experience as a dentist, 2. “Adhesive ceramic restorations” (Manier P.), 3. National Library of Medicine (USA), 4. American Dental Association (USA), 5. https://www.lumineers .com/, 6. https://www.realself.com/.

What do patients say?

Almost all reviews about Lumineers are positive. It’s not for nothing that most Hollywood stars use them to give themselves sparkling, snow-white smiles.

If you have already encountered the installation of these microprostheses, then you can share your impressions with the reader in the comments to this article.

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What are componers?

Componeers are the same as veneers, only composite material is used in their manufacture. In this case, compositors are made according to special templates in the laboratory.

During their manufacturing process, the composite is pre-polymerized using patented technology. This ensures high quality dental records. Componeers have a natural appearance and are particularly durable.

Main advantages of the products:

• relatively low cost;
• small thickness (approximately 0.3 mm).

At the same time, componers also have certain disadvantages. These include: susceptibility to cracks and chips, relatively short service life (about 7-10 years).