smile makeover Archives - Auburn Dental

Why Is Lemon Making My Teeth Look Worse?

December 10, 2025 by writeradmin

I was told that using lemon juice on my teeth every day when I brushed would help whiten them. It seemed to be working at first, but they seem to be worse than they were before. Do you know if there is a certain method to this?

Andrea

Dear Andrea,

I am glad you wrote. It is actually the lemon that is the problem. I’m not sure who told you to use lemon juice when brushing your teeth, but they have not done you any favors. Lemon is a citrus, which is quite acidic. If you use it on your teeth, it will start off by making your teeth look at bit whiter because the acid will scrub off the stains, but it also etches your enamel, which then makes your teeth pick up stains faster.

It’s a bit like what happens to patients who are bulimic. The acid from when they purge eats away at their teeth until there is hardly any enamel left. I’m going to suggest that you stop using the lemon juice. The safest way to truly whiten your teeth is to do it with a dentist using professional strength teeth whitening gel.

I would see a dentist either way in order to have your enamel checked out. It would have taken a lot of brushing with the juice to do as much damage as would occur with bulimia.

If you’re enamel is very damaged, then there are cosmetic procedures which could both whiten your teeth and protect your enamel. The best cosmetic procedure is porcelain veneers. However, it is for more than just whitening. It would be more for a complete smile makeover which can change the shape, size, and color of your teeth all at the same time. If you want less than that, then I would talk to a good cosmetic dentist about your other options.

This blog is brought to you by skilled dentists in Auburn, AL Drs. Murphree and Yount.

Luster Premium At Home Whitening

August 5, 2025 by writeradmin

I received an advertisement for an over the counter whitening called Luster Premium. It seems to have some good reviews but I don’t know how to check if it is safe or not. I worry about things not done by medical or dental professionals, but am also looking to whiten my teeth, so if I can save some money doing it safely, I’m all for that.

Heather J.

Dear Heather,

This product appears to be safe, however, I would not recommend that you use it. While there are over-the-counter whitening products that do work, which I’ll talk about in a moment, this one is phoney. The light is not strong enough to make a difference. However, the real kicker is their so-called whitening ingredient. This is not a bleaching agent such as you would get from a legitimate whitening kit. Instead it is just a pigment that is in the Super Whitener — zinc oxide.

Zinc oxide sticks to your teeth and can make your teeth look whiter, but it is only temporary. The pigment will fade away. In order to keep your teeth white, you will have to continue to place to pigment on your teeth. I think this initial whitening is why it has some positive reviews. You can use it and it won’t really hurt you, but I think it is a waste of your money.

Crest Whitestrips is an over-the-counter whitening kit that does have a legitimate whitening ingredient. It will whiten your teeth but will take quite some time. First, by law, it has to be weaker in order to be safe enough to sell to patients who are not under a dentist’s care and can keep an eye on things. Second, it only covers your front six teeth. Most patients have a smile that is eight to ten teeth wide. That means that you will have to wear multiple strips each time to get them all whitened.

I don’t fault you at all for wanting to save some money. That is wise. However, by the time you double your strips and get enough boxes to whiten your teeth effectively, then you’ll probably end up spending as much money as you would have if you’d done professional teeth whitening through a dentist. Your time is worth something too.

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

Family Dentist Messed Up a Tetracycline Case

July 26, 2025 by writeradmin

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.

Zirconia or Lumineers?

March 18, 2025 by writeradmin

I’m trying to decide on what type of porcelain veneers to get. I’ve been to two cosmetic dentists. One is suggesting zirconia crowns instead of veneers. The other is suggesting Lumineers which he said are porcelain veneers. I like the idea of porcelain veneers best but I’ve seen some bad reviews of the Lumineers. Should I try something completely different than the two options given to me?

Callie

Dear Callie,

I’m glad you wrote. I actually am going to suggest you change the question a bit. Instead of asking what type of veneer you should get, I’d like you to ask what type of dentist should you look for. Almost all cosmetic dental work is an art form. Like any art form, the artist you choose is way more indicative of the type of results you will get than the materials they use.

For example, let’s say that you were commissioning an oil painting. You gave two artists the same paints, the same type of canvas, and the same subject to paint. One of them is a gifted artist with years of training and experience under their belt. The other dabbles. I’m sure you’d expect the results to be vastly different. The same will be true with your porcelain veneers.

The best cosmetic dentists will have extensive post doctoral training in cosmetic dentistry. I would also take the additional precaution of looking at their smile gallery to see the type of results they produce. If they don’t have a smile gallery, don’t bother with that dentist. If they were serious about cosmetic work, they’d have a smile gallery.

All of that being said, I’m not impressed with either suggestion that the two different dentists gave you. If a dentist suggests dental crowns when your teeth are healthy, that is a big red flag. It usually means that they are not comfortable with porcelain veneers and are pointing you toward a procedure they do know how to do rather than sending you somewhere else. I don’t like this because they’re having you remove extra healthy tooth structure rather lose business. Second, even if dental crowns were the right solution, zirconia would not be. These are milled from single blocks of zirconia, which is fine for back teeth, but would make your front teeth look obviously fake.

Lumineers, while they are a brand of porcelain veneers, are highly marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists as being easy to place because they don’t require any tooth preparation. While some smiles can get away with this, for most smiles they will look bulky. Plus, the Lumineers company requires dentists to use their lab, which is not known for producing artistic results.

I would focus on looking for a great cosmetic dentist and let them pick the brand. They’ll ask you questions about the type of smile you are wanting and will know which brands will be the right one for that smile.

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

Fixing Enamel Hypoplasia

November 15, 2023 by writeradmin

I have enamel hypoplasia, which has led to me becoming uncomfortable in social situations. I recently heard there are cosmetic solutions for this. Do you have any recommendations for me?

Dudley

Dear Dudley,

I’m glad you wrote. I am going to start by explaining what enamel hypoplasia is for those who may be reading but are not aware of this condition. This is a physical defect where tooth enamel is not completely formed. It can happen because of a genetic condition or because of serious illness that occurs during the same time the teeth are still forming. Teeth are generally forming between birth to twelve years of age.

Now for the solution. The treatment you get will depend on the severity of the hypoplasia. In the image above, I’ve shown both mild and severe hypoplasia. With mild hypoplasia, you can have dental bonding done in order to even out the color on the teeth. If you want your teeth whiter, you will need to have teeth whitening done. Just make sure you have the teeth whitening done before you have the dental bonding done. This is because the whitening will not affect your bonding. So, get your teeth the color you want them and then your cosmetic dentist can match the bonding to that color.

If you have more severe hypoplasia, then dental bonding will not be a good solution for you. In that case, you would need to have porcelain veneers done. These are tiny wafers of porcelain that will completely cover the fronts of your teeth as well as hug the sides. These can do more than cover the stains. They can change just about anything about your teeth, including the shape, size, and color. This is the Hollywood type of smile makeover you see celebrities get.

This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentist Dr. Alan D. Yount.

Porcelain Veneers and Stains

June 15, 2023 by writeradmin

I am considering getting porcelain veneers to deal with my stained, ugly teeth. I am a smoker and drink quite a bit of red wine. I’m worried that I will spend all this money on porcelain veneers and they will end up as ugly as my current teeth are. My dentist said they don’t stain. Before I move forward, I wanted to get a second opinion.

Carl

Dear Carl,

Personally, I think that it is a bit of an overstatement to say that porcelain veneers do not stain. Instead, I would say that they are very stain resistant. In fact, they are more stain resistant than your natural teeth are. That is good news for you.

The edges where the bonding takes place will pick up some stains but this will happen to everyone, not just smokers. Your dentist can polish the edges up nicely and I would consider that a regular maintenance issue.

You can help your porcelain veneers to stay as stain free as possible by using Supersmile Toothpaste. This is specifically designed for cosmetic dental work and will help keep surface stains off your teeth. Brush two to three times a day, as well as floss daily and you should be fine.

One other word of caution. When you go in for your normal dental cleanings, make sure your dental hygienist does not use anything like a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride on your teeth. This will take the glaze right off your porcelain veneers. The glaze is what gives them their shine and protects them from picking up stains.

If the only thing that bothers you about your teeth is the color, you would save a LOT of money by having teeth whitening done instead of the veneers. However, if there are other things about your teeth’s appearance, such as their size or shape, that bother you, then porcelain veneers are the way to go.

This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentist Dr. Alan Yount.
Auburn, AL College Dentist

Dentist Won’t Give Me White Crowns?

April 29, 2023 by writeradmin

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.