Monthly Archives: July 2014

Lumineers

Do I have to get my teeth ground for lumineers?

I want to get a new smile with Lumineers, but I don’t want my teeth to be ground down. Is that really necessary?

Ginny D. – Virginia

Ginny,

I think you may be confusing Lumineers with dental crowns. Your teeth do have to be ground down with dental crowns. It’s different with Lumineers. You may not even need any tooth preparation at all. Sometimes, however, there is a need for moderate tooth preparation.

It isn’t anything like grinding your teeth down though. Instead it is maybe the depth of a fingernail or less. Most people can’t tell the difference in size between a prepped or unprepped tooth.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Kevin Peck.

Affordable Dentist

My dentist doesn’t understand I can’t afford his recommendation

I have a chip on my tooth. I’ve not really had money to fix it, but I’ve been offered a great PR job on the condition I fix my tooth. It’s a reasonable request as I’ll be in front of a camera a lot. It will be worth, it, but I just don’t have the money to do an expensive treatment yet. My dentist wants me to get a Lumineer to fix it, but that is way over my budget. Isn’t there any other option?

Brooke S.- Oregon

Brooke,

I get frustrated when I hear about scenarios like yours. A dentist has an ethical responsibility to give patients all their options, not just the ones that make them the most money.

Dentist’s need to understand that not everybody works on the same type of budget and might need more affordable options for their dental treatment.

You do have another option. It’s possible your dentist doesn’t know how to do it and that isn’t why he mentioned it, but he had a repsonsibility to let you know about the option regardless. Have you looked into dental bodning? It uses composite material to repair your chip.  It doesn’t last as long as a porcelain veneer (Lumineers are a brand of porcelain veneers), but it is considerably less expensive.

It’s a least an option that will allow you to get your new job and then you can save up for the cadillac of repairs.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentists Drs. Kevin and Hillary Peck.