Let Your Smile Shine
Your smile easily influences how you interact with others. If you find yourself struggling with the appearance of your smile, Dr. Wallace, Dr. Stern, and our Willoughby Hills dental team offer cosmetic dental solutions that will take your smile from dull to dazzling. Both our porcelain veneers and lumineers rejuvenate patient’s smiles and confidence levels.
Discover how porcelain veneers or lumineers can add vibrance to your smile while improving your oral health by reading our helpful guide featured below.
What Are Porcelain Veneers?
Porcelain veneers are thin, transparent ceramic shells that are directly bonded to your teeth for a flawless finish. Your veneers are custom-created to improve the shape, color, and length of your natural teeth. This cosmetic dental treatment will seamlessly blend in with your surrounding smile, allowing you to smile with confidence once again.
We often recommend porcelain veneers for patients looking to fix any of the following dental issues:
- Stained or discolored teeth
- Chipped or cracked teeth
- Crooked or misshapen teeth
- Gaps between teeth
The Benefits of Porcelain Veneers
Veneers are very well known for brightening your smile, but they also offer a wide variety of other benefits, including:
- Completed in as little as two appointments
- A fast, painless procedure
- Customized for you
- No harsh changes to your natural teeth
- Can last as long as 15 years
- Easy to care for
- Stain-resistant
Our Porcelain Veneers Process
The porcelain process can be completed in as little as two appointments to our Willoughby Hills dental office. The first step in achieving your smile goals starts with an initial consultation with Dr. Wallace or Dr. Stern, where we’ll assess your mouth for any underlying dental problems. After any issues have been resolved, we’ll take highly detailed impressions of your mouth to ensure perfectly crafted veneers for your smile.
When your porcelain veneers are ready, you’ll return to our dental office so we can place them. During this appointment, your dentist will gently remove a minuscule amount of enamel from your teeth to make room for the veneers. Then, your veneers will be bonded to your teeth with a dental resin that hardens with the use of a special light.
Once applied, your dentist will double-check that your veneers fit and look perfectly before solidifying the bond. Then, you’ll walk out of our office ready to show the world your new, vibrant smile with nothing but confidence.
What Are Lumineers?
If porcelain veneers don’t seem like the perfect match for your dental needs, Dr. Wallace and Dr. Stern offer lumineers as an alternative. Lumineers are ultra-thin and can be applied without removing any of your tooth’s enamel, preserving its natural structure. Our lumineers also eliminate the need for drilling, shots, or temporary acrylics, allowing you to show off your new smile right away.
Some of the top reasons why patients choose lumineers as their cosmetic dental treatment include:
- Stained or discolored teeth
- Chipped teeth
- Unwanted gaps or uneven spacing
- Misshaped or too short of teeth
- Aged dental work, such as a crown or bridge
- A smile that’s not quite to your liking
Lumineers® At Smile Brighter Willoughby Hills Explained By Dr. Michael Stern
Benefits of Lumineers
When you choose lumineers, you also receive multiple benefits, such as:
- Preserves your natural teeth
- Ultra-thin material
- Customized for you
- Comfortable fit
- Fast, minimally invasive procedure
- No drilling, shots, or temporary restorations
- Long-lasting results
The Lumineers Process
Receiving your Luminners is a quick, easy, and painless procedure. After just two appointments, you’ll be proudly showing off your new, flawless smile. You’ll experience the following during the lumineers procedure:
- Initial Consultation: At your first appointment, Dr. Wallace or Dr. Stern will take detailed impressions of your teeth to ensure a perfect fit as well as determine which shade of white your lumineers will be. Then, we’ll send those impressions to the dental lab where your custom lumineers will be created.
- Placing the Lumineers: Once your lumineers are created, typically in about two weeks, you’ll return to our Willoughby Hills office to complete the treatment. Dr. Wallace or Dr. Stern will carefully and painlessly bond the lumineers to your teeth. Once they’re set in place, you’re ready to show off your new, flawless smile.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are several differences between lumineers and porcelain veneers, but both treatments are great alternatives to tooth whitening. It’s important to note that certain dental issues can only be solved through the use of porcelain veneers. The main differences between the two cosmetic dental solutions include:
- The lumineers procedure is less invasive since Dr. Wallace won’t need to remove any enamel, unlike veneers.
- Veneers are made up of porcelain or composite materials, while lumineers are made from Cerinate® porcelain.
- The lumineers procedure takes less time than the veneers procedure.
- Veneers replace the removed enamel while lumineers are placed over the teeth. For this reason, lumineers can seem bulkier than veneers despite being thinner.
Caring for either porcelain veneers or lumineers is relatively the same and can be compared to maintaining your natural teeth. Here are some tips to help you properly care for your porcelain veneers or lumineers:
- Brush your teeth twice a day for at least two minutes each time
- Floss every night
- Use mouthwash after flossing
- Avoid hard candy and biting nails, pens, or pencils
- Wear a mouthguard if you’re active in contact sports or grind your teeth during sleep
- Visit our dentists regularly for exams and professional cleanings once every six months
Visit Dr. Wallace for Cosmetic Dental Solutions
Ready to give your smile the makeover you’ve always wanted? With porcelain veneers or lumineers, Dr. Wallace can give you a flawless smile that’s customized to your liking. To learn more about these cosmetic dental treatments, call our Willoughby Hills office to schedule an appointment at (440) 210-0999. We look forward to meeting you!