Dental Veneers: Lumineer Vs. Davinci Vs. Empress

The first type of veneer to enter dentistry was a material called feldspathic porcelain, and it appeared around 1985.  How do I know?  Well, I've been doing them since they first arrived back then.

Feldspathic porcelain is one of the weakest type of porcelain, but has two huge advantages.  They can be made thinner than most other types of porcelain, and also they can made to best match difficult colored teeth.  Lumineers, Da Vinci and Dura Thin veneers are examples of dental labs that are still using feldspathic porcelain.  Lumineers were instrumental in marketing their veneers as requiring little or no drilling, however most cosmetic dentists agree that at least some minimal tooth drilling is almost always necessary or else the veneers will end up looking too thick and fake.

After a decade of feldspathic veneers, around 1995, another different type of porcelain was introduced to cosmetic dentistry, pressed ceramic porcelain veneers.  These are usually much stronger than feldspathic veneers, but do require a little more thickness, thus minimal tooth preparation (drilling) is necessary.  The best known of first wave of pressed ceramics for the past ten years was Empress porcelain veneers.  The Microdental Labs was one of the major international dental labs that produced Empress veneers and helped gain its popularity among dentists and patients. 

In the last few years Empress has been for the most part replaced with it's younger brother Emax, which also is a type of pressed ceramic.  Emax has all the advantages of Empress, but is many times stronger and can be made much thinner than Empress.  Thus Emax can be made almost as thin as Lumineers, Da Vinci feldspathic and Dura Thin porcelain veneers.

So, I've been a practicing cosmetic dentist for 35 years and since porcelain veneers were introduced I've placed thousands of veneers.  Many have been of the feldspathic type, but most have been pressed ceramic.  Today, based on current techniques what is my favorite types of porcelain and why?  Where as most of the veneers I've placed were Empress, today my favorite material is Emax.  I believe it has the strength, fit, beauty to make it the current longest lasting porcelain veneer material.  I still use the older feldspathic, but mostly in situations where only a few teeth are being veneered and the most accurate custom color match is the goal.  For example, a patient breaks one front tooth.  Then I would use feldspathic.  If the patient needed four, six, eight or ten veneers, then I would most likely recommend Emax.

When it comes to veneers, don't get caught up on a particular brand name, or material. More importantly, find the most skillful and experienced cosmetic specialist, who will work along-side a master ceramist to get you the ultimate result possible.Hope that helps.James Asaf, DDS

A dentist should pick a particular veneer material because the laboratory technician is skilled with this product. 

Lumineer and Davinci veneers are made by certain labs that have spent a lot of money on market and brand awareness so that patients come to the dentist asking "I want Lumineers." when really the patient is saying "I want a veneer that is going to look natural and great"

Lumineers market that their veneers can be placed without drilling or anesthetic. This is true for some limited cases.

Hope this helps.

in a word...CEREC! 

While I agree the ideal result is achieved as a joint effort between dentist, client and lab, most of the time I use CEREC.  it is highly precise CAD-CAM fabrication.  The porcelain is milled, not pressed. 

There are many options, just as there are in lab-based materials. 

We can offer highly customized outcomes with conventional procelains, Empress porcelains and now , VERY strong e.Max porcelain. 

The advantage is the dentist controls the outcome, and it can often be done in a single visit. 

Because the ceramic blocks are made in a factory, it is very uniform in its manufacture,  And you can't beat the way computer fabricated veneers will fit!

Each of these are just brands.  Lumineers refers to a brand of porcelain which has been marketed for use in prepless veneers, where no tooth structure is taken away in making the veneer.  They could look great, IF the dentist is highly trained and the ceramist is a true artist.  Like any human endeavor, there are folks who are wonderful and not so hot and all points in between.  Prepless veneer (such as lumineers) are only for a very narrow range of cases, where you want the teeth bigger to close spaces or just to make them appear bigger.  In most cases, we don't want those things and prepless (lumineer) veneers will NOT look good.  This is why we see so many not so great looking cases.  

Empress is a brand of a different type of porcelain, called pressed ceramic.  Here again, for the right case, it's an amazing material.  For the wrong case, it's not going to work out.  

DaVinci is just a lab (a good one!) which has marketed itself through the Extreme Makeover show.  They do nice work.  Many others also do excellent work.  

The key is, that the patient should not try to insist on any brand name product.  The patient's job is to find a highly skilled dentist by asking friends, searching the internet for testimonials and before and after photos.  Then meet this dentist and see if you get a good feeling of caring and trustworthiness.  Then let them guide you to the right solution for your particular set of issues.  Best wishes!

I agree with the other dentists with respect not too get too caught up on the type of porcelain used.  Your dentist should be using the appropriate porcelains for your case.  Also, depending on his ceramists skills with certain porcelains which one might be used.  Niot all porcelains are treated the same in the lab and your dentist should prescribe the correct shade layering and porcelain that will work best for your individual case.

In my opinion, those who have mastered eMAX porcelain, have an edge on strength and esthetics. 

The most important choice you make is which dentist will treat you, how much training and experience she/he has in cosmetics (and your particular kind of situation as well), does she/he listen to your concerns, and what lab ceramist does she/he work with?  Together, the dentist and her ceramist can determine which porcelain is the best option to solve your specific situation.  Sometimes, it's even a combination of different porcelains in one smile design (see phots-two different types of porcelain were used for the bridge and the veneers).

There are many porcelain veneer brands out right now: Lumineers, Da Vinci, Dura Thin, eMax, Empress, and still others. So, how do you know what is the best type of porcelain veneer for you?

The answer is really this: as a consumer, don't get fixated on a particular brand. The best porcelain veneer results come from your cosmetic dentist assessing what aesthetic needs you have, as well as the strength required to create a long-lasting result. 

The best results come from the conversation and communication between the cosmetic dentist and the ceramist.

As long as your cosmetic dentist knows what you are wanting to achieve, then trust them to guide you to the right type of veneers.

Each one has their appreciation and benefit. I feel the fit, strength, depth of color is always better with Empress. But thats just my opinion of course.

After over 25 years experience and placing several thousand veneers I choose the veneers that give me the most beautiful and lifelike result.
Lumineers and DaVinci veneers are well known only because of smart and expensive marketing on the part of the laboratories that make them. Because they produce so many veneers, each laboratory has many ceramists that fabricate their veneers. This can result in inconsistency in style and quality.
I prefer feldspathic veneers produced by the same master ceramist giving me consistent quality and the exact result the patient desires. My ceramist knows me well enough to produce exactly what I want regardless of the difficulty of the individual case. That relationship is priceless!