I moved to a new town and the very first thing that happened to me was a car wreck. I’ve severely broken a front tooth as a result and needed to get a dental crown. I looked up dentists in the area with good reviews and went. I whiten my teeth about once every two years. As a result I have very white, clean looking teeth. The dentist I went to said he’d give me the whitest shade because of how white my teeth are. Once it was in, I could tell that is was not as white as the rest of my teeth. In fact, next to the other front tooth, it looks pretty lame. My dentist insists he gave me the whitest shade, but I’m having a hard time believing him at this point. What should I do?
Carol
Dear Carol,
The only way to get your crown to match y our front tooth at this point is to get a new one. You will need to do it with a different dentist though. He’s in a little over his head. My guess is that he doesn’t do much (if any) cosmetic work. When you whiten your teeth, it does not just remove stains. It can actually whiten the natural pigment of your teeth so that they are whiter than they were before they picked up stains.
Before teeth whitening was a thing dentists all used a shade guide to match their dental crowns to their patient’s front teeth. I have an example of the old shade guide pictured directly above. Then, in the 1990s, teeth whitening picked up in popularity. People’s teeth started getting whiter than the shades the dentists knew how to match. Now, any dentist who does even the simplest of cosmetic procedures will have the updated shade guide (pictured below).
As you can see, the updated guide has whiter selections for dentists to use with their patients. You have the added complication of your dental crown being on a front tooth. These are the most challenging to match. Even the best cosmetic dentists usually have to do a few try-ins before they get the exact replication. This is because tints have to be added to match the variations that are more visible on a front tooth because of the light. I don’t think the dentist you went to for this has any idea how to do that. I know he had good reviews and he may be an amazing bread and butter family dentist, but he is not right for what you need.
Ask him for a refund. You may not get it because if the crown is functional, that is all the dental board requires. However, most dentists care about how their patients feel about the work and he may be willing to give you at least a partial refund. Once you have that, look for someone who does cosmetic work. Then, make sure they are willing to use a temporary try in paste so you can see the crown in your mouth next to your other teeth first. AND, if you don’t like it they should be willing to send it back to the lab to get it right.
I hope this helps.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.