July 2025 - Auburn Dental

I am distraught over how my teeth ended up after I tried to get my tetracycline stains fixed. I went to my family dentist, who I also know socially, and told him how embarrassed I’ve been for years over the stains on my teeth and asked if there was any cosmetic solution for my situation. I mentioned porcelain veneers. He suggested dental crowns because he thought the added thickness would help hide the stains. So, I got six dental crowns. My other teeth show when I smile which makes the crowns look kind of fake. Plus, when I’m in certain lighting, mostly fluorescent like I have at work, then you can still see all the gray. I spoke to my dentist about it and he is willing to redo them, but I’m wondering if I should just get a refund. I get the feeling that he is in over his head.

Candice

Dear Candice,

Dental crowns that don't go into the aesthetic zone — These porcelain crowns don’t go all the way into the aesthetic zone, making them look fake.

Your dentist seems well meaning, and I like the fact that he is willing to repair what he got wrong. However, I agree with you that he is in over his head and don’t think he will be the best dentist to give you the results that you want. Cosmetic dentistry is not a recognized specialty, which means that any general dentist is allowed to do cosmetic dentistry. The problem with that is it takes a significant amount of post-doctoral training as well as an artistic eye to get beautiful results.

Your dentist made two mistakes right off the bat that tells me he doesn’t have the training. One I have illustrated in the image above. Smiles have what is known as the aesthetic zone. These are teeth that are visible when you smile. Most people have an aesthetic zone of eight to ten teeth wide, so giving you just six dental crowns was a mistake. You’ve noticed this yourself.

The second error in judgment was telling you to get crowns because they are thicker instead of referring you to an expert cosmetic dentist. He probably felt some pressure to not look foolish in front of you because you know each other socially. However, many inexperienced cosmetic dentists make the same mistake without that pressure.

Porcelain veneers are the better solution. However, tetracycline stains are one of the most advanced cosmetic cases a dentist can do. You have to get the teeth opaque enough to cover the stains, but still have some of the translucency of your natural teeth.

I’m going to suggest you get a refund and look for a true cosmetic dentist who can fix these. Look at the best dentist link above in the text to get an idea of what kind of training you want your cosmetic dentist to find. Unfortunately, now that you have dental crowns, you’re stuck with them, but a great cosmetic dentist can give you a stunning smile even with the crowns. He’ll probably suggest adding at least two more depending on how wide your smile is.

This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentists Drs. Murphree and Yount.

I have been using some teeth whitening that I bought over the counter. It has this tray that I use but I’m supposed to keep it in for two hours. This has been aggravating my TMJ. I recently read about a different system, the Tanda Pearl Ionic Teeth Whitening System. Is that safe. Will it work? It says that I would only have to wear their trays for 5 minutes a day. I feel like that would be easier on my jaws.

Ursula

Dear Ursula,

So I looked into this. While it does have a legitimate teeth whitening ingredient, I don’t think it is going to be helpful for you. This kit has only one tray. In order to keep it in your mouth, you will have to bite down on it. Even for just five minutes you are going to find that will cause even more jaw pain than what you are currently experiencing.

A second issue with the trays is that they do not keep the whitening gel secure. This causes two problems. First, the gel can get out of the trays, which both weakens its effectiveness and puts your soft tissue, like your gums, at risk. Second, it allows your whitening gel to get out of the tray. This further weakens the gel’s effectiveness.

My recommendation is that instead of trying these over-the-counter kits, you go to your dentist and get professional teeth whitening done. A dentist can make you custom fitted teeth whitening trays that will fit your teeth perfectly. Not only will that keep you from having your jaw ache, but it can also make your whitening more effective.

By the way, there is nothing magical about the two hours which the first kit told you to use. If your jaw hurts with two hours, do it for one. It just means that it will take a little longer to get the whitening level that you want.

This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentists Drs. Murphree and Yount.
Click here to learn about porcelain veneers.

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