My New Crowns are Turning Yellow
Posted by Annmarie SanSevero
I had six porcelain crowns placed on my upper teeth for a smile makeover. I asked for BL1 because I have very white teeth naturally. I’ve never even needed to whiten. I take good care of them and use Supersmile whitening to keep surface stains off. When I got my dental crowns, they were darker than I asked for. In fact, they are darker than my natural teeth. Then, within two weeks, they started picking up stains. Every time I drank coffee it seemed to get worse. My research said that porcelain crowns would not pick up stains from things like coffee if I cared for my teeth, which I definitely did. I feel like my smile makeover dreams are a disaster. I’ve scheduled an appointment with my dentist. Do you have any recommendations for what I should ask about?
Laura
Dear Laura,
If you’ve never whitened, it would be hard to get your teeth to BL1 levels. If the crowns are darker than your natural teeth, there is little chance your dentist gave you you the color you requested. Bear in mind that I have not examined you, but it sounds like your dentist decided to give you a lighter shade that he or she thought would match your smile. I don’t know this with certainty, just based on what I’ve read.
When a patient wants a smile that is whiter than their natural teeth, I have them do teeth whitening to get them as close as possible to the color they are looking for. That way when the crowns or veneers are placed, they won’t stick out. I am curious as to why crowns were placed instead of porcelain veneers, which is the typical procedure for a smile makeover.
The second issue you mentioned was the staining. You are correct that the porcelain crowns should be stain resistant. In fact, they should be more stain resistant than your natural teeth which you say are very white. I am wondering if your dental office used something like a power prophy jet or acidulated fluoride on your crowns. That would damage the glaze and cause them to pick up stains.
My recommendation is that before you see this dentist again, you have an other dentist examine them and give you a second opinion on what went wrong. When you do that, make sure it is a blind second opinion. That means you don’t tell the second dentist who your first dentist is. Instead, just ask him why these crowns are picking up stains. If he asks who did them, then just explain that you want a blind opinion. He should understand that.
You will want to make certain the person you go to is an expert in cosmetic dentistry. The best cosmetic dentists are accredited with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD).
This blog is brought to you by Franklin, TN Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Christopher Weber.
