I had to get a dental crown and my dentist seems completely unable to match the crown to my natural teeth. He told me he is using the whitest shade available and even showed me the guide. I did recently receive a spa treatment that included a Zoom Whitening package from a friend for my birthday, so my teeth are much whiter than they used to be. I like them like that, though. Is it possible that teeth can be too white for dental work?
Lizzie
Dear Lizzie,
I think I know exactly what is going on here. My guess is your dentist does not do a lot, if any, cosmetic dental work. If he had, he would have upgraded his shade guide. Directly above, you will see what was a common shade guide until cosmetic work became popular. Teeth whitening, especially, gained popularity as it became more and more affordable.
An interesting fact about teeth whitening is that it doesn’t just remove stains. It can actually whiten even your natural tooth pigment. This means that what used to be a sufficient shade guide to help dentists match a dental crown to a tooth color is no longer adequate.
The companies that provide these shade guide responded to the need and updated their options. Below, you will see one such example. You’ll notice the shades attached on the left are much whiter than anything you’d see on the guide above.
I think you will be wasting your time trying to get your current dentist to match this dental crown. I am going to suggest you find a dentist who does more cosmetic work and will have a better understanding of teeth whitening and how to match your dental work to whiter teeth.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.