What We Do for the Ones We Love By Dr. Steven Weinberg

In the past few decades, there has been an awareness shift in many dental practices. The typical dental office mainly focused on the diagnosis and treatment of oral and dental disease and pathology. Today, dentists not only treat dental disease, but also have turned an eye toward the esthetic appearance of the teeth.

There have been many advances in dental materials allowing dentists to create subtle esthetic improvements to an unattractive smile; including, tooth whitening, direct composite bonding, indirect porcelain veneers and, in some situations, full coverage crowns.

Direct resin bonding is usually very conservative needing little or no tooth reduction. In comparison, porcelain veneers usually require moderate to aggressive removal of enamel, in some cases exposing sensitive dentin. Full coverage crowns, of course, require the most amount of invasive and painful tooth reduction.

In recent years, a new technology to long lasting porcelain veneers has come onto the dental horizon. “LUMINEERS” are ultra thin porcelain veneers made by Den-Mat. They are made of amazingly strong Cerinate porcelain and are about the thickness of a contact lens. Because they are so thin and strong, the removal of sensitive tooth structure is not necessary. With LUMINEERS, a less than perfect smile can be dramatically corrected quickly and easily with no discomfort to the patient. In fact, when they are bonded using Ultra-Bond Plus and Tenure A and B, LUMINEERS come with a five-year limited warranty.

Dentists who have placed LUMINEERS have been, along with the patient, very pleased with the results. They often refer to LUMINEERS as the “guilt free” way to improve smiles because healthy tooth structure is not removed.

There is an interesting phenomenon that exists among most dentists. When treatment planning esthetic and restorative procedures for their patients, they often choose accepted dental procedures, which are, in most cases, aggressive. But when treatment planning dental procedures for a loved one (spouse, child, parent), the dentist seeks the most non-aggressive treatment. (In some case, dentists will even ignore the patient’s desire for treatment!)

Dr. Dennis Feldmeier of St. Louis, Mo. is one such dentist. His son, Brian, kept hinting he would like his smile improved. Brian had orthodontic treatment; however, he was not diligent about wearing his retainer. Therefore, diastemas formed between all of the maxillary anterior teeth. In addition, his incisors were somewhat misshaped as they tapered toward the incisal edge. Previous conservative attempts were made to cosmetically correct his smile using composite bonding. However, due to the voracious appetite of the teen, the resins would fail.

When Dr. Feldmeier learned about LUMINEERS, he felt comfortable offering these to his son. “My main concern was that this choice would be viewed as a compromise,” Dr. Feldmeier said, “with only minimal esthetic results to be anticipated.”

After placement of eight maxillary LUMINEERS on Brian, followed by minor adjustments, clean up and feathering the porcelain-enamel margins, both dentist and son were amazed. “I cannot begin to tell you how happy my son and I are with the decision to use LUMINEERS,” Dr. Feldmeier said. “When a restorative decision involves people you dearly love, there is a different value placed on that decision. I still cannot believe the light reflecting texture that these thin veneers have! These had so much energy and reflective vitality I was just surprised what a great product they are. This was a life-changing experience for both of us.”

If Dr. Feldmeier had not been pressured to veneer his son’s teeth, he may never have experienced the magic of the LUMINEERS process. He has made a paradigm shift, having learned that he can dramatically improve smiles, easily and painlessly, without the destruction of sensitive tooth structure. Brian finally has a smile he can be proud of while having a pleasant experience in the dental chair.

Dr. Steven Weinberg is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. He has been on the faculties of four other dental schools for their post-graduate esthetic programs. Dr. Weinberg opened his private practice in New Jersey in 1978 with an emphasis on esthetic and restorative dentistry. He has been lecturing nationally and internationally on esthetic and restorative dentistry for over 22 years. Dr. Weinberg received an honorarium from Den-Mat for writing this article.