| What is your opinion on the new Lumineers?. I
have good teeth with a few chips on the upper two front. One dentist wants
braces first and then grinding and crowns; the other says Lumineers will
fix it. I am reluctant to grind down my healthy teeth so the Lumineers
sounds like a good option. But as they are relatively new, I wonder about
the quality compared to traditional veneers/crowns. Thanks.
- Roger from Florida
Roger,
It's hard for me to fully answer your question
without seeing your case. And there are some things I don't understand.
Are the crowns being suggested just for the teeth with chips? If so, I
would disagree with that. I think that is overkill. And why braces? Is
that related to the chips? I don't understand where the braces come into
this treatment plan, so there must be something about this I don't
understand.
The
Lumineers are a fine material. But here I'm going to try to read
between the lines of your e-mail. You're describing this problem as just
"a few chips." So, that leads me to assume that you don't need this
treatment for the sake of the health of your teeth. For health's sake, you
don't have to fix chips on your front teeth. So it appears to me that
you're doing this for the sake of the appearance. And if that's the case,
then you need an artist.
People become dentists because they like to fix
things, and they simply aren't good, 98% of them, at creating beautiful
smiles. So, I think the key question is, "Is your dentist an artist?" It's
not the material being used that's critical here, it's the talent of your
dentist. That is IF you're doing this for the sake of the appearance. If
you're doing it for the function or because the edges of the front teeth
irritate your lip and the appearance really doesn't matter much to you,
then any good dentist can do this.
And about the braces, most adults seem to prefer
the Invisalign invisible braces
rather than the traditional wire and bracket kind. Click the link to read
more about this.
Other questions:
 |
My dentist said I
have leaky fillings. How
can I know if he is right, and what does that mean? |
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|
I had a dentist
recommend an all porcelain crown
for my front tooth but a porcelain fused to metal crown for my molar.
What's the difference? |
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Is there a way to
put porcelain veneers over
crowns? I have crowns across the front, but would like them
whiter. |
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I was told that
composite fillings on back teeth don't last as long as amalgam
fillings. How long do the white
composite fillings last? |
|
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Trey has one
crooked front tooth that sticks
out and wants to know if he's a candidate for porcelain veneers. |
- From your Naperville,
Illinois cosmetic dentist
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