We purchased my daughter an entire set of porcelain veneers. The dentist suggested ten on top and eight on bottom. She had a small accident that left one of the teeth chipped. It was a very small chip so the dentist was able to fix it. The dentist smoothed it out and then, of course, had to smooth out the adjacent tooth so they matched. Since then, the adjacent tooth has developed a blue tinge to it. We went back to the dentist and he said that he is an expert at color and there is nothing wrong with the tooth. He feels we are being too picky. But, I looked at the tooth and it is definitely turning blue. Do you have any recommendations?
Bobby
Dear Bobby,
I am a little frustrated at your dentist’s response as I am certain you are as well. That attitude of “I am the dentist and therefore the expert so don’t question me,” is the attitude of a general dentist, not a cosmetic dentist.
Above I placed an image of some temporary porcelain veneers. If the blue tinge you see above is what your daughter is noticing, then she has a leaky veneer. That can mean the bonding is damaged or that somehow the margins aren’t quite right. Either way, things are getting trapped between her tooth and her porcelain veneer, which will lead to decay. It does need to be repaired.
That being said, it is best to wait until this falls off so that it isn’t broken. Once it comes off, it can be repaired with an emergency appointment. Some of the more expert cosmetic dentists will do aesthetic emergency appointments. It is important your daughter does not do something like superglue it on. That will ruin it before it has an opportunity to get fixed.
I have one question I want to ask you though. You mentioned your daughter had quite a few porcelain veneers placed on her lower arch. Was there something specific about those teeth that required structural changes? Under most circumstances, if the lower teeth are otherwise okay, we just place veneers on the top arch and use teeth whitening on the bottom arch.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steve Collins.