I went to a dentist about 20+ years ago because I wasn’t happy with the color of my teeth. They gave me ten dental crowns. Even then it wasn’t the white color that I asked for but they insisted that this looked “more natural”. Now it is time for the dental crowns to be replaced and I thought I would be able to finally get the color I wanted. I mean, you see lots of people with super white teeth these days. Yet, they’re trying to give me a B1, which is close to the original shade. I was hoping for something more like a BL1. Yes, I want them really white. My dentist said because I have posts they will show through with the lighter color. Is there any way to get them whiter without the posts showing through?
Meg
Dear Meg,
I’ve got great news and bad news for you. Let’s start with the bad news. Both your original dentist and this one are not good at their job. Let’s start with your original dentist. You went in there to get lighter color teeth. Instead of just doing teeth whitening, which would have preserved your tooth structure, they ground down your teeth and gave you dental crowns. Now you are stuck with dental crowns for the rest of your life. Let’s say for argument’s sake that you wanted a smile makeover and not just whiter teeth, porcelain veneers would have been the right procedure for that because it would have preserved most of your tooth structure.
Now, let us move on to your current dentist. He is confusing color with translucency. If the posts will not show through at B1, they will not show through at BL1. Doing beautiful cosmetic work takes special post-doctoral training as well as an artistic eye. I would ask to see some examples of cases he’s done that are similar to yours. If you don’t like the results, I would look for someone else.
Now for the great news. This is a very do-able request you have. I would look at our Best Dentist page to get an idea of what type of dentist you want to replace your dental crowns.
This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentists Drs. Murphree and Yount.