Jason from California wrote to me two days ago saying that he was going to pay for fixing his nephew’s teeth, but his nephew wanted to do Lumineers, and he was worried about that. I warned him about Lumineers, about their limitations. He wrote back and said the following, and sent a photograph of his nephew, and I commented back. This is truly an impending Lumineers disaster. Hopefully we can help out here.
Dr. Hall,
You are amazing. Thanks so much for the quick response. I’m going to convince my nephew to see one of the dentists you recommend.
Also, I’m attaching a photo of my nephew so you may see his teeth.
The dentist wanting the $18,000 for eighteen Lumineers is… (name deleted).
Again, Dr. Hall, thank you very much for your guidance.
– Jason from California
Jason,
Thanks for sending that info – the photo and the name of the dentist he wants to see.
Red flags here all over the place.
His teeth definitely need work. What I told you before would apply to his case – it would be a choice between traditional porcelain veneers and Invisalign – assuming we are ruling out traditional orthodontics because of the time factor and the discomfort. Looking at his lower teeth, they could also use work, so what I said about just bleaching them may not work that well. But the idea of doing Lumineers on them isn’t too good of an idea, either. Depending on a bite analysis and the x-rays, you may want to do a combination of porcelain veneers on the upper, Invisalign on the lower, or some other variation.
This is absolutely NOT a case for Lumineers. The reason for doing Lumineers rather than traditional porcelain veneers is to avoid having to prepare the teeth. That technique may be okay for teeth that are maybe a little short, that are reasonably straight, that maybe have gaps between them. What he has is just the opposite. The lower teeth are crowded. The upper right canine is sticking out too far. There is no way to get a decent result with this with porcelain veneers without shaving off the parts of the teeth that are sticking out. If he is serious about an acting career, this could be one way to really kill that career – with a phony-looking smile that ends up changing the way he speaks and disrupting his speech. I have had e-mails from Lumineers patients who have ended up getting their upper lip caught on their teeth now, or have ended up with a lisp or dry mouth because the Lumineers have made the teeth too bulky and they end up getting in the way of their tongue or lips or make it so they can’t close their teeth all the way.
And it was very interesting looking at the website of this dentist your nephew wants to go to. This dentist, Dr. [blank], says he’s a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. However, checking the AACD membership records, he has only been a member for one year, which indicates that he would like to know more about cosmetic dentistry, but doesn’t have a lot of training yet. His CV is lacking any indication of any serious post-graduate training in cosmetic dentistry so far. And then the smile gallery photographs illustrating Lumineers are mostly from the Lumineers brochure, and don’t illustrate his own work. I called his office to get the details on this. There are a couple of photos of his own work on the website, but the esthetic and functional quality of that work, in my opinion, is poor.
Your nephew could definitely benefit from some guidance here. He is about to be supremely disappointed if he goes through with this Lumineers idea with this dentist. This is not an easy case. You need a dentist with strong expertise in cosmetic dentistry and with integrity.
– Dr. Hall
About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
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