I’m about to get Lumineers. I’m very excited about it but now my dentist said he’d like me to get my teeth whitened first. Is that really necessary? Isn’t one of the benefits of getting Lumineers to change the color of your teeth? Won’t the Lumineers do what the teeth whitening will?
Karen
Dear Karen,
How I answer your question depends on why your dentist is wanting you to whiten your teeth. If you are planning on getting the Lumineers brand of porcelain veneers on both your upper and lower arches, or if you are just getting them on your upper arch.
If you are getting your porcelain veneers on both upper and lower teeth, there is only a need to whiten your teeth if you have a wide smile. Most patients get between six to eight veneers. However, if you have a very wide smile, you may have ten to twelve visible teeth. If you don’t want to spend the money to get each of those teeth veneered, you would whiten your teeth ahead of time, so they will be close enough to the re-done teeth for them to look natural together.
If you don’t have a wide smile and your visible teeth will be covered, there really isn’t a reason to whiten your teeth. You’re correct that the Lumineers will do that for you.
When Do Whitening and Veneers Go Together?
However, most patients don’t want to pay for veneers on both their upper and lower teeth. Instead, they’ll just have the smile makeover done on the upper teeth, which are very visible when you smile. Then, on the bottom teeth which are only visible briefly while you’re speaking, you can use teeth whitening which makes it look like both arches are the same.
The big benefit to doing it this way is the money savings. It is significantly more affordable for you to whiten your bottom arch than it is to veneer the additional teeth. It’s likely instead of trying to get you to do an additional procedure to make money, your dentist is trying to save you money.
This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentist Dr. Raymond Bolt.