I’m fed up. I have wanted to fix my two front teeth for many years (I’ve got a gap between them and a small chip from an accident when I was a kid). After several consultations with my dentist, I was led to believe that Lumineers would be the answer to a new, beautiful smile. The catch was that I would need to do my six front top teeth so that everything matched. It wasn’t my original plan, but I decided to go for it since the end result would be an amazing smile. Unfortunately, the whole process started out on a bad note and has just gotten worse. One of the Lumineers was cracked before my dentist even got started, so he proceeded to cement the rest and said he would send that one back. In the process of cementing them, another one cracked! I left the office with four in place and was annoyed that I had to walk around with mismatched teeth for a couple of weeks. When the new ones came in, they were the wrong color, so while I was waiting for that mistake to get fixed, a third Lumineer cracked. I wish I had never started this process because now it’s been a couple months and my dentist doesn’t seem to be worried that he can’t get this right. I’m beginning to wonder if he simply doesn’t know what he is doing. Is it just bad luck or is this a common problem with Lumineers? Can I demand a refund? — Tana
Tana,
For many people, Lumineers are a great option for transforming their smile. However, in most cases, the final outcome really depends on how skilled the dentist is with the Lumineers process. Many believe that because Lumineers are “ no-prep” they are simple to do. Those particular dentists seem to get a lot of complaints from patients about breakage, but in your case, having some cracked from the start is not typical. As for a refund, that will be up to your dentist. You can give him another chance to try and correct the problems, but if the problem is that he simply doesn’t know what he’s doing, you’ll be in the same situation.
If you decide to seek out another dentist to do the work, do your homework first. Maybe you should think about asking potential doctors if they use other ultra-thin brands besides Lumineers. Many cosmetic dentists do great work with these other brands because they can utilize their own or even a local outside lab to make them. Don’t make any decision until you can see the work the dentist has done on other patients. Before and after photos of real patients are a great way to see their level of skill and quality of work. Here’s to end of your unlucky streak with Lumineers!
This blog is brought to you by Dr. Alana Macalik. For more information on the services she provides, visit her Arlington cosmetic dentist website.