Ultra-Thin Porcelain Veneers

Improving Your Smile with Porcelain Veneers

Even with the promise of a beautiful smile, many people hesitate at getting porcelain veneers because, traditionally, veneers have required resurfacing, or “shaving off” the top layer of the tooth enamel. In other words, some drilling is involved, which also means shots for anesthetic are required. However, technology allows LUMINEERS to be made incredibly thin yet exceptionally strong in order to give patients white, straight teeth without drilling or shots. And because LUMINEERS are contact lens-thin, they can be bonded directly onto the tooth, eliminating the need for your teeth to be “shaved.” This is a huge advantage because there are drawbacks to having your teeth shaved.

For example, once your teeth are shaved, the process is irreversible. With the top layer of enamel removed, your teeth will always need veneers. Also, when the enamel is disturbed, it may cause your teeth to become more sensitive to heat and cold. Tooth enamel thins with age and usage over time, so it doesn’t make sense to accelerate the process. But with traditional porcelain veneers, you don’t have an option. The reason is that most veneers are about 0.4 to 0.8 mm thick. You can’t very well place traditional veneers on your existing teeth without removing a layer of your enamel because your teeth would become too thick and bulky. But because of the thinness of LUMINEERS, that thickness and bulkiness can be avoided.

LUMINEERS differ from traditional porcelain veneers because they’re so much thinner. LUMINEERS measure about 0.2 mm thick—that’s about a third to half the thickness of traditional porcelain veneers. So the decreased thickness means a dentist can bond ultra-thin LUMINEERS directly onto your tooth without creating “bulk.” Another benefit of no drilling is that you won’t need to wear temporary plastic veneers or deal with tooth roughness while you wait for your traditional porcelain veneers to arrive. So rather than multiple visits, ultra-thin LUMINEERS normally only require two visits for that beautiful smile.