Lumineers, Not in My Near Future!

So I had my appointment with the local, well regarded, cosmetic dentist today. I had heard that they could put lumineers over old crowns and thought that this might be the solution to my discolored second incisor, which I absolutely hate looking at, and is the only thing I really see when I look in the mirror.

Well, I had my hopes shot down today so that was a bit dissapointing. Why is it no matter how good you think things look, it is just never good enough? I mean, I went into the dentist thinking that I was pretty ok with my smile now (I mean it is 100% better then what it used to be) I have never wanted to have the whole super, white, every tooth the same, fakey looking smile. I sorta think that peoples teeth shapes, their sizes, placement etc are what make us unique and different. So that everyone just doesn't look like some sortof clone of each other. Don't get me wrong, I like teeth that are straight, but just teeth that are natural, not totally perfect, or veneer like. Anyway.....the dentist proceeded to point out my additional flaws and told me that they do not do just one lumineer. It seems that lumineers are somewhat translucent, and that it is very hard to match the color to the other teeth if they just did one. It is recommended that they do the front 4 or 6 minimum. He proceeded to show me a book where you pick out the shape of the teeth you would like. Did you know that men tend to have squarer looking teeth and that women are drawn towards individuals with square teeth (because we are looking for men.) Women's teeth tend to be more rounded and uniform in shape. He had me pick out the shape that was most appealing to me. Then he had me choose from 3 different colors of how white I would like them to be. They then took my picture to send off to the company. The Lumineer makers apparently have some sort of promo going on where they send in your pics along with your tooth shape choices, and color choice, they then super impose them over your teeth to show you how you will look with lumineers. It normally costs $200.00 to have this done but is free until the end of this month. They then call me back in about 2 weeks to show me how they look and I guess help me decide what I want to do. Or to really make me see what I'm missing.

So....I was thinking about it all, and that I would be willing to do this. The Doctor was right, there were a few things that could be improved. Then came the price tag. When I looked online it showed lumineers costing about $750.00 each. Three thousand dollars...it is a lot, but I could do this. It would be expensive but hey I've come this far, it wouldn't be that much more for me to feel totally happy with my smile. Well, then the dentist tells me that they are $1500.00 a piece. So it would cost me not three thousand, but six thousand dollars, for four teeth! The benefit of living in Alaska I suppose.

Alas...while I would love to get them, I just can't justify another $6,000 dollars for my old teeth. That is a lot of money...too much! I really hate this ugly crown, and want my teeth to match, but it appears I will have to learn to live with it, at least for a few years longer. :(

On a happier note though, my dentist called and my implant pieces are in. I only need schedule an appointment to get my implant placed. Details coming soon!