Dr. Hall,
Dr. Hall, what is the price of Durathin verses Lumineers? I would like to know which one is less expensive. I like the picture of the Durathin much better.
– Sharon from Virginia
Dear Sharon,
I need to change how you think about porcelain veneers. They are not a commodity like a necklace that you would just go to a store and buy and it doesn’t matter what store you get it from. The actual cost of the porcelain I would guess is in the neighborhood of 1% of the cost that you pay as a patient. And I’m just guessing at that because even as a dentist ordering veneers from a lab, I never even thought of that. What you are paying for is the labor and the skill in taking that material and making it into a beautiful smile. Let’s take my guess of $10 as the value of the porcelain in a veneer. The laboratory technician (ceramist) will mark that up to maybe $100 to $300, depending on his level of skill, and that is what the dentist will pay. Then the dentist will mark that up again to $1000 to $2500 which will be the cost a patient will pay for a single veneer.
And how it looks depends much more on the skills of these people than on the material itself. The reason Lumineers don’t look very good is that, because of trademark restrictions, they have to be made in the Lumineers lab, and they’re not a good lab in my opinion. DURAthin and other brands can be made by a ceramist of the dentist’s own choice. With a highly artistic dentist and ceramist, you get a much more beautiful result.
Some dentists will charge very little for Lumineers–maybe around $500 to $700 apiece. I wouldn’t let any of those dentists anywhere near my front teeth. Some dentists will charge that same amount for other brands of porcelain veneers. Same story–stay away.
I would say that in Virginia, you should be able to get a quality smile makeover from one of our recommended cosmetic dentists for somewhere around $1000 to $1200 per tooth. And that would be with DURAthin veneers or some other brand of ultra-thin veneers, which seems to be what you want. Be very selective in who you go to. Remember than only 1-2% of dentists have the artistic skills and training necessary to create a beautiful smile makeover.
Dr. Hall
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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.