What do you do if your porcelain veneers are darker than your natural teeth? I was super disappointed after my dentist bonded on my new porcelain veneers. They looked fine before they were put on my teeth. After they were placed though, they were much darker compared to my teeth. My dentist insists it is the lightest color, but how is that possible?
Callie
Dear Callie,
I’m taking a guess but this is your family dentist who did your porcelain veneers, right? This is obvious by a couple of things. First, you only saw the porcelain veneers when they weren’t on your teeth. An expert cosmetic dentist would have used a temporary try-in paste. This allows you to see them before they are bonded. If you didn’t like the way they looked, they would go back to the lab until you were thrilled with the results.
Either one of two things happened. Either he doesn’t know about the try-in paste which means he has very little cosmetic experience or he realized they wouldn’t match and bonded them on before you could notice. Neither of those are good. This isn’t the best dentist to do your cosmetic work.
The second hint is the color. When dentists are matching color to teeth, they use a shade guide, like the one above. This used to be the standard guide. However, when teeth whitening gained popularity, things changed. While most people realize that teeth whitening can eliminate stains on your teeth, they don’t always realize they can also whiten the natural pigment. This means teeth become whiter than their natural color. When that happens, the shade guide no longer has colors light enough to match the teeth.
True cosmetic dentists realize this. That’s why they use the updated shade guide seen below. This added the bleached colors necessary for dentists to properly match the shades.
How Can You Get This Fixed?
At this point, you have two choices. First, you can ask your dentist to re-do the case, explaining to him about the extended shade guide so he can correctly match to the remainder of your teeth. I would only do this if you are satisfied with every other aspect of your porcelain veneers. By that I mean you love everything about your porcelain veneers except the shade. Your second option is to ask for a refund and then have another more experienced dentist do the replacements.
If you decide to go with another dentist, I recommend you use one who has reached accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. While being a cosmetic dentist isn’t a recognized specialty, AACD accredited dentists have passed stringent exams and provided visual evidence of their artistry. These are the top cosmetic dentists in the country.
This blog is brought to you by Lexington Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Fred Arnold.
