Cosmetic dentistry information for everyone.

I had two crowns done. One of them looks darker than the other. It is the tooth that had a root canal done on it and had turned darker. I spoke with my dentist about my concern with a color difference. He said not to worry about it he’d take care of it. He even took a picture of the teeth to show his lab the color difference. However, they still ended up different colors. Is there anything to be done about it or do I just have to live with it?

Sylvia S.- Sheridan, AR

Sylvia,

It sounds like your dentist doesn’t have the necessary cosmetic skill and experience to deal with your situation. It can be handled, but it needs to be done by a highly trained cosmetic dentist. There is something called an opaquer that can cover the darkness of your tooth. However, you still want the porcelain crown to look bright and translucent, which takes some skill when there is an opaquer underneath.

You have two options. Anyone who is accredited by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) will be skilled enough to handle your case. If you can’t find an AACD accredited dentist (and there aren’t many of them because of the stringent requirements) you can also find highly skilled cosmetic dentists on the mynewsmile.com website. They recommend artistic cosmetic dentists by state. They also have high requirements, so you’re safe with any dentist there as well.

This blog is brought to you by New Jersey Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Allyson Hurley.

I have Tetracycline stained teeth. Will I be able to get porcelain veneers to fix it?

Bethany H.- San Francisco

Bethany,

It is possible to do porcelain veneers with tetracycline teeth, but it is very tricky. You will need to go to an expert cosmetic dentist. There are several common errors with veneers for this kind of situation:

• The dark stains show around the edges of the work.
• The veneers aren’t opaque enough and the stains show through.
• The veneers are too opaque and don’t look natural.

One way to find a dentist with enough training to avoid these errors, is to look for dentist recommended on mynewsmile.com. Dr. Hurley is a recommended dentist with them, and she had to submit her training credentials, along with samples of her work. Anyone on that site, should be able to handle your case.

This blog is brought to you by New Jersey Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Hurley.