Cosmetic dentistry prices: How much do
Lumineers ® veneers cost? / Dental insurance coverage.

Lumineers ® porcelain veneer pricing.

You can expect that your cost for having Lumineers ® placed will be about the same as that fee your dentist charges for conventional porcelain veneers. Here's a very "ballpark" price estimate for this procedure.

How did we come up with this estimate? / Cost estimates for other dental procedures.

Treatment considerations:

• Do dental insurance policies cover Lumineers®? - Most dental insurance policies will not provide coverage for procedures whose only benefit is making a cosmetic change for a tooth. The vast majority of porcelain veneer cases (including Lumineer® veneers, which are simply a brand of porcelain veneers) fall into this category.
       There is the possibility that an insurance plan might cover veneers, if placing them provides some other, non-cosmetic, benefit (such as correcting a tooth's dental health issue or replacement of deteriorated veneers that place a tooth at risk).
       Only your dentist can determine if your situation potentially justifies coverage. If they think it does, they can then petition your insurance company on your behalf in hopes of gaining authorization to perform the work.
• Lumineers® fees are usually quoted on a per-tooth basis. - Prices for Lumineer® cases are typically quoted at a fixed cost per individual veneer.
       For example, a case involving six Lumineers ® will typically be priced at a straight multiple of six times the dentist's fee for placing a single one.
• Don't overlook the cost of replacement veneers. - When considering any type of veneering process and its associated costs, don't overlook the fact that the work will likely need to be replaced at some point during your lifetime.
• The treatment time required for a no-drilling Lumineers ® case is likely less than that needed for a case involving conventional veneering technique. But this cost-cutting factor is (at least in part) offset by the fact that your dentist's dental laboratory expenses for Lumineers ® will probably be greater.

How long will Lumineers ® porcelain veneers last?

Evidently, even those Lumineers ® made to ultra-thin tolerances can be expected to have a lifespan that is on par with traditional porcelain veneers.

Several studies (Ciancio, 2006) have shown that the lifespan of a Lumineers ® veneer can easily exceed ten years. One study found a 94% success rate at 20 years.

You must anticipate that your Lumineers ® will need to be replaced at some point during your lifetime.

You can't realistically expect any type of dental restoration to last forever. And this is especially true in those cases where the cosmetic appearance of the restoration is crucial (like with a veneer on a front tooth). We discuss the aspects of this topic in greater detail on our page: What is the true cost of having porcelain veneers placed?

Why don't all dentists choose to utilize Lumineers ® porcelain veneers?

Not all dentists place Lumineers ® porcelain veneers. One of Den-Mat Corporation's websites states that more than 5000 dentists nationwide use Lumineers ® veneers in their practice (June, 2006).

The American Dental Association estimates that there are just over 160,000 dentists in the USA (20% of which are dental specialists). This would suggest that somewhere between 3 and 5% of the dentists who might incorporate Lumineers ® veneers into their practice choose to do so.

Some dentists may prefer the cosmetic end results they get with other porcelain veneer products.

Of course the reasoning of those dentists who choose not to utilize Lumineers ® veneers will be personal, based on their individual philosophies, preferences, and experiences.

Some dentists may feel that Lumineers ® veneers do not provide the same lifelike appearance that other porcelain veneers can, especially in the case where Lumineers ® veneers are placed using a "no drilling" technique.

Many dentists feel that thicker porcelain veneers offer a greater opportunity for incorporating characterization and shading qualities into the veneer itself. In cases where a large color change is required many dentists feel that thicker veneers can typically give a more translucent and lifelike appearance than thinner veneers that must be made relatively more opaque so provide the same masking effect.

Your dentist may preference about which dental laboratory they work with.

Other reasons a dentist might choose not to place Lumineers ® veneers can be easier to understand. For one, costs may be a factor. The advertising expenses associated with the Lumineers ® brand no doubt affect the pricing of their product.

In other cases, the dentist may have a relationship with a dental laboratory that they have cultivated over the years and prefer to maintain. If it's a local dental lab, they probably have an opportunity to communicate face-to-face with the dental technician who makes their veneers. Since there are only a few Cerinate ® Design Studios (the dental laboratories that make Lumineers ®), an opportunity to work in direct contact with the technician is much less likely.

There are competing brands of ultra-thin veneers.

Your dentist may already be using another type of minimal thickness porcelain veneer. As an example, Glidewell Laboratories makes Vivaneers ® porcelain veneers. These veneers can be made to tolerances measuring as little as .3mm in thickness.

Using Lumineers ® to rejuvenate the cosmetic appearance of existing dental crowns and bridgework.

The makers of Lumineers ® porcelain veneers also market them as a way to extend the life of existing porcelain dental crowns and bridgework which are no longer cosmetically pleasing. The idea is that ultra-thin Lumineers ® veneers can be bonded onto the front surface of porcelain restorations thus providing them with a renewed cosmetic appearance. Clearly, only your dentist can make a determination about the suitability of this type of patchwork dentistry.

Since the Lumineer ® will only provide a cosmetic change, the dentist must examine the dental work in question and determine that it is otherwise intact and clinically satisfactory. No doubt the original contours of the dental restoration were considered by the dentist who placed it to be ideal. The dentist performing the Lumineers ® patchwork must evaluate and determine if the added thickness of the Lumineers ® will result in a restoration that is grossly over contoured.

In regards to resurfacing individual dental crowns, one might question the prudence of a "placing a restoration on a restoration" approach when probably for about the same cost and same number of visits the dental crown could simply be replaced. The advantage of the latter approach being that the restoration would remain just a single item created in the controlled environment of a dental laboratory as opposed to being patchwork assembled in the mouth.

It certainly seems that there could be situations where the option of resurfacing just one or a few teeth that are members of an extensive dental bridge might offer a solution that could salvage the appearance of the bridge at just a portion of the cost of replacing it.

If this approach is considered, one must be sure to weigh the cost of patching the bridge with Lumineers ® veneers (and your dentist's expectation about the longevity of this repair) in comparison to the cost of replacing the bridge outright (and the expected lifespan of this new bridge).

Placing Lumineers ® veneers is (kind of) a reversible procedure.

In those cases where Lumineers ® porcelain veneers have been placed using a "no drilling" technique (meaning no tooth reduction has been performed) the process is a reversible one. Lumineers ® veneers can be removed and the teeth they had been cemented to restored to their original form.

You must realize however that bond between the tooth enamel and a Lumineer ® is very strong. In order to remove a veneer, your dentist will need to grind it off using a dental drill. Depending on the specific circumstances, a dental patient might appreciate or even require dental anesthetic when this grinding process is performed.

The general concept that placing "no drilling" Lumineers ® veneers is a reversible procedure might be comforting but we would anticipate that anyone going to the trouble and expense (probably many thousands of dollars) of having a set of Lumineers ® veneers placed would only be doing so because they truly sought a change, as opposed to just experimenting with cosmetic options.

We would think that anyone who had a set of Lumineers ® veneers removed would only do so related to some sort of failure (cosmetic or functional) associated with the results of their case (as opposed to wanting to return to their previous cosmetic appearance) and they would then most likely proceed with some other approach (traditional porcelain veneers or dental crowns) so to provide the results they were seeking in the first place.