I was curious to see how veneers could be placed without prepping the teeth. The no-prep claim is almost always true. There are instances where a small area may have to be reduced, but not much.

Once you have decided to do the Lumineers, impressions are taken of the upper and lower teeth. The models are then sent to one of two Smile Design Centers in the US. One is in Clearwater, Florida and the other is in Santa Maria, California. The Design Centers will then create your perfect smile and will send us the wax-up for you to see prior to making your final decision.

If there is a minor amount of tooth structure that needs to be removed, the center will shade the models with a red pencil to let us know the exact area. Keep in mind that all of this is done in the enamel, and not taken down to the dentin as we used to have to prep other veneers.

On your first appointment for the actual veneers, there is no anesthesia, no prepping of the teeth unless it is a minor amount as mentioned above, and no cord packing. Impressions are taken, and a shade is recorded. No temporaries are made, as no painful tooth structure has been removed. After a 30- minute appointment with us, you are free to go.

On the seat date, which will be after about 7-10 working days, the veneers will be tried in. If everything looks okay, then they will be cemented all at once. The excess cement will be removed, the contacts will be opened up so you can floss again, and everything will be polished.

These veneers can be placed over existing crowns and bridges, which we have never been able to do before with any success.

Something that the Lumineers Company stressed to us is that they are changing people’s smiles, not fixing a tooth. The company will not make one veneer. The minimum is four, but ideally they recommend six, eight or ten, depending on how wide people smile.

As a side note, we also upgraded our whitening light system. We have invested in the Sapphire Light System.

A really neat feature about the Sapphire Light has a one-tooth attachment to it, so if someone has a tooth that had a root canal in the past that is darker, and only needs one tooth bleached, we can now do just that one tooth.

Most people are curious about is the cost of the veneers. The company recommends that we charge the same as our crown fees, but we are going to run an introductory offer of $600 per tooth for a couple of months. There will also be a $200 fee for the first visit to take impressions, as we have to pay the Smile Design Center to do the wax up for your case.

Because this is an investment in your smile, we are in the process of adding CareCredit to our repertoire of financing. This is a lower-cost medical credit card that you can use for medical, veterinary and dental visits. We should be set up with them in a week or two.

If this is something that interests you, let us know. I already have two people set up for the first impressions, as they are so excited about this new procedure. I am very excited about it because these veneers are so esthetic and conservative!

Dr. Paula Coffee