When would you recommend lumineers instead of veneers?

If your teeth are fairly straight and you want to make them whiter and improve the shape, Lumineers can be a great solution.

Lumineers are a type of veneer.  They are ideal in patients who need minimal changes in shape and color.  Well they are considered no prep veneers the can also be used in combination with tooth preperation.Veners that are bonded to just enamel are the strongest and least problem free but sometimes optimal esthetics are compromised.Each case is different.  I suggest always starting with a diagnostic wax-up that is transferred to the mouth to see the " final result" ahead of time.  Lip support, color and length can be evaluated.  I usually like to see patients a few days after temps are placed to re-evaluate esthetics before proceeding to final restorations.Ira L Shapira

I have used different types of veneers from ceramic materials to different levels of full prep, minimal prep and no prep veneers including Lumineers and Cristal veneers as two fine examples of ceramic labs we work with for the latter.  Every patient is unique and treatment options are numerically ordered depending on the case.  For those cases that minimal to no prep veneers are adequate to get beautiful aesthetic results, full thickness veneers are then put lower down on the list of options, as, tooth preservation is ALWAYS ideal.Find a dentist that has completed all different types of veneer cases and see what is right for your situation.

Normally the ultimate goal is a beautiful smile. If Lumineers are being offered, ask to see some finished cases done by the office in question. Rarely are there Lumineers cases that are beautiful or fantastic, and you will see after seeing the pictures. Even some of the official marketing photos from the company are just so-so.
If tooth conservation is the issue, most veneer cases can be very conservative but would require some tooth reduction. This is replaced with porcelain, so the end result is NOT a weaker tooth, just an altered one.

I've done and placed both traditional porcelain veneers and the most recent generation of Lumineers (IPS eMax).  If you’re just looking to have WHITE teeth with minimal tooth details, then Lumineers is the one. All my of Lumineers patients are happy with their results.  They're stronger materials (Lithium Disilicate) than porcelain veneers and patient teeth doesn’t get ground down as much.  A huge perk is that current Lumineers cases are mostly "no prep" technique with patient's teeth with some cases "minimal prep" (some recontouring of teeth)!  Not all patients are candidate for Lumineers so make sure you visit an official certified Lumineer doctor for an complete evaluation.  Locate a certified Lumineer doctor in your area. If you want LIFE-LIKE teeth with different shades of white and other colors in the same tooth, then feldspathic porcelain veneers are for you. Because porcelain is more fragile, they need to be thicker than Lumineers. Because of their thickness, more of your tooth structure will need to be removed/ground down for the porcelain veneers to not look bulky once they’re on your teeth. Porcelain veneers are more detailed than Lumineers veneers. So it all basically comes down to do you want durability with minimal teeth grinding or do you want the most realistic detailed looking teeth and don’t care about your teeth being grind away?