Can Teeth Be Too Bleached for Dental Work?
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I whiten my teeth every other year because I like a very white smile. This year, I was in an accident that damaged a tooth and now I need a dental crown. My dentist cannot seem to find a crown shade white enough to match my teeth. He told me he is using the whitest color, but it is markedly darker than the rest of my teeth. What do I do?
Candice
Dear Candice,
I have some good news for you. It is definitely possible for you to get a porcelain crown that matches your white teeth. However, you may have to do it with a different dentist. Here is why.
Dentists use a shade guide to match dental work to your teeth. Above was the standard shade guide for many years. I’m willing to bet your dentist is still working from this shade guide. This served dentists very well until about the 1990s, when teeth whitening exploded in popularity.
Once people started whitening their teeth, the shade guide no longer had shades white enough for these patients. Dentists who did a lot of cosmetic work recognized this was an issue that needed to be addressed. As a result, the shade guides developed an extention for dentists who did cosmetic work. Here is an image of that below:
As you can see, this has much whiter options. I’m also willing to bet your dentist does not do a lot of cosmetic work in his office. He probably does not have this shade guide. I think you will be better served if you went to a dentist who has the tools required to give you a natural looking result. This is especially true with a tooth that is visible when you smile. A flat shade, is not going to be enough. In order to have the variance of translucency that a natural tooth has, your dentist will have to provide a color map with various creams and tints to truly mimic your other teeth. I don’t think your current dentist will know how to do this.
Look for a dentist who does regular cosmetic work and you should be able to get the dental crown you need.
This blog is brought to you by Moline Dentist Dr. Thomas Goebel.