Birmingham, AL Lumineers

Nationally renowned cosmetic dentist Dr. Thomas Dudney at Alabaster Aesthetic Dentistry won’t use Lumineers on your smile. Here’s why.

The Problem With Lumineers

Lumineers are a brand of veneers made by the DenMat company. Their direct-to-patient marketing efforts have made them popular with the public. However, as any experienced cosmetic dentist will tell you, it’s not the brand of veneers that makes the beautiful smile — it’s the artists who design, create, and place them. For this reason, it’s much more important to find a cosmetic dentist you can trust than to find one who uses a specific brand.

Behind every skilled cosmetic dentist is a ceramist who turns the dentist’s artistic vision into physical reality. This is a professional with whom the cosmetic dentist has developed a strong working relationship after creating numerous smile masterpieces over a long period of time. For his custom-crafted porcelain veneers, Dr. Dudney relies on the work of a master ceramist from a trusted dental laboratory.

DenMat requires that all Lumineers be manufactured in their own dental laboratory by their own technicians. As Dr. Dudney is not willing to put your smile makeover in the hands of an impersonal lab, he opts for brands of ultrathin porcelain veneers that allow him the freedom to use a master ceramist whose work he trusts. Like many cosmetic dentists, Dr. Dudney has noticed that smiles produced by the DenMat lab vary in aesthetic quality and often appear bulky and with a lackluster color. There’s simply no benefit in taking such a risk with your smile.

What About No-Prep Veneers?

Veneers are thin wafers that are placed over the teeth. Ultrathin veneers are only about 0.3 mm thick, while traditional porcelain veneers are about 0.5 mm thick. While they are thicker, traditional veneers are still about the thickness of a fingernail. But even an ultrathin veneer placed directly on a tooth without prior preparation will not have a seamless margin with your tooth. In order to allow your veneers to sit flush against your teeth for the most natural look, Dr. Dudney will perform a slight preparation on your tooth enamel. This involves shaving as little as 0.3 mm off of the surface of each tooth while also roughening the surface to facilitate bonding. To learn more about our process for designing and placing veneers, see our Porcelain Veneers page.

Our Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain veneers at Alabaster Aesthetic Dentistry are custom-designed by Dr. Dudney, who is known nationwide for his work in cosmetic dentistry. In addition to serving in his own practice for over 40 years, he has directed hands-on programs for multiple cosmetic dentistry training organizations and lectured at major dental conventions. Visit our Smile Gallery to see examples of some of the smile makeovers he has designed for his patients.

Your New Smile

When you’re ready to transform your smile, give us a call at (205) 663-6545 to schedule a consultation with Dr. Dudney. If you prefer, you may also request an appointment online, and we’ll call you to set up your consultation.