Lumineers are a non-invasive, functional, and cosmetic approach to solving many common issues people have with their smiles. They look indistinguishable from natural teeth. They are made with a special strong, translucent porcelain that maintains its durability even as an ultra-thin shell. They’re better than traditional veneers in several ways thanks to this technology.
The thinness makes them look completely natural. Furthermore, traditional veneers often require drilling on your natural teeth, which can be painful. Lumineers require no injects and no drilling. Plus, since drilling isn’t required, they’re fully reversible, which is certainly not often the case with traditional veneers.
This special porcelain is known as Cerinate porcelain. Its patented properties are unique and essential to the success of Lumineers. It is exclusively manufactured in Santa Maria, California. It’s created by reinforcing feldspathic porcelain with leucite.
The leucite is essential because it helps to prevent cracking/crazing of the porcelain when it’s that thin. Lumineers can actually be as thin as a contact lens because of how strong this uniquely engineered porcelain is. This aspect directly reduces the need for extensive preparation, reduction of healthy tooth enamel, as well as anesthetic.
Furthermore, thermal expansion affects Lumineers less, which allows for more varied techniques, and prevents “pop-offs” or debonding after they’ve been successfully applied.