Today I have been looking at photographs of smile makeover cases done with DURAthin veneers. I must say that I’m impressed.
I’ve been critical on mynewsmile.com and in this blog of Lumineers. They are a brand of ultra-thin porcelain veneers, and I have yet to see a photograph of a Lumineers case that I felt showed beautiful cosmetic dentistry.
But all the photographs of DURAthin veneers that I examined today looked beautiful, and it caused me to wonder about the difference. DURAthin is also an ultra-thin porcelain, and is sometimes used in a no-prep situation.
I think the difference is in the dentists they attract and the way the products are promoted. Lumineers are promoted to general dentists as being very easy to place and very lucrative. Consequently, they attract many dentists who really don’t know what they’re doing when they get into esthetics. Thus, I get many e-mails from their upset clients. DURAthin is taught almost as an elite technique, and the dentists that place them seem to be fairly sophisticated as far as esthetics. For example, Dr. Nils Olson, a mynewsmile.com recommended dentist who has been chosen as the new chairperson of accreditation in the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and thus could be considered at the pinnacle of excellence (see his Maryland cosmetic dentist website), uses DURAthin in his practice. Dentists like this will use a no-prep technique only when it can produce superior results. Otherwise, they will take advantage of the thinness of DURAthin by doing an ultra-conservative preparation, very possibly in enamel only, which may require no novocain and which could be likened to a mere dusting of the enamel surface.
Anyway, I’m soliciting more DURAthin photographs from our expert cosmetic dentists, and keeping an eye out, and will keep visitors to this blog and website posted.