I have four dental crowns on my front teeth which really need to be replaced. They were never as white as I wanted and I’d like to whiten my teeth and get new crowns to match them. I’d talked to my dentist about doing zoom whitening and he said if I did that my teeth would be too white for any crowns to match. Is there a way to get white crowns or are they all what my dentist calls “natural looking”?

Sadie

Dear Sadie,

You are definitely able to get white crowns and using Zoom Whitening should be a fine way to get your teeth white quickly so that you can move on to getting the crowns. However, I would not have your dentist do the work.

He is obviously out of his comfort zone or he would not be trying to discourage you from going that direction. He’s also woefully behind in the field because we’ve been able to get super white crowns since the 1990s. Once people started whitening their teeth more, companies had to put out new shade guides to help dentists plan for whiter crowns.

Plus, doing crowns on front teeth are much more advanced because the light hits them directly. Many dentists have trouble getting them to look natural.

My suggestion is that you go ahead and get your bleaching done, but see a dentist who has more advanced cosmetic skills and experience. They would be willing to do temporary try-ins on your dental crowns.

When that happens, they would put them in with a temporary try-in paste and let you get a good look at them in various lightings to see if they match and you are happy with the way they look.  If you weren’t, then they would send them back to the lab to make any of the changes you requested. The crowns would not be bonded in until you were completely thrilled with them.

This blog is brought to you by the skilled dentists at Lafayette, LA Drs. Foreman and Thimmesch.