I plan on getting a smile makeover for my nephew who wants to be an actor. We went to see a dentist who wants $25,000 for 18 Lumineers. Before I drop that much money, I wanted to get another opinion. His upper teeth have gaps and two that stick out a bit more than they should. The lower teeth are a bit over crowded. Is this the right way to go for him?
Brandon
Dear Brandon,
I wish I had a photograph to see his smile, but think I can be helpful without it. Based on what you described, this is definitely NOT a case for Lumineers, which makes me question whether this dentist is qualified to do the smile makeover.
The reason behind using Lumineers over more traditional porcelain veneers is to not do any tooth preparation. This will not work in your nephew’s case. You said he has teeth sticking out. Those teeth will require some shaving in order to get it to look right.
Let’s say for a second that he did not have an obvious need for any tooth preparation, Lumineers still might not be the way to go. There are other brands of ultra-thin veneers that might be a better fit. There are two concerns with Lumineers. The first is that they are often marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists as being easy to place because of the no-prep nature of them. I’m guessing this dentist is one of those cosmetic dentists who lack expertise because he didn’t realize that the teeth sticking out meant that tooth preparation was necessary.
A second problem with Lumineers is that they require dentists to use their lab, which is not known for producing beautiful results. A dentist who does not do a LOT of cosmetic dentistry may not recognize this problem.
If you want to kill an acting career before it starts, then get a fake looking smile makeover. I am worried that is what your dentist is going to provide.
As for his bottom teeth, those don’t normally have veneers placed on them, except for some unusual circumstances. Generally, teeth whitening those is enough to have them match the smile makeover. While that won’t work for your nephew’s smile because of the overcrowding, I think veneers on them is the wrong treatment, not to mention extrememly expensive for you. A better option would be to have some Invisalign done on his bottom teeth. The teeth whitening can be done simultaneously because the aligners can double as teeth whitening trays.
I think you are with the wrong dentist and he is suggesting the wrong procedure. Whoever you end up with, make certain they are willing to do a temporary try-in of the porcelain veneers before they are permanently bonded on AND that if you are not 100% thrilled with the results they will be willing to make changes, no matter how many try-ins it takes.
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