Why Does My Ceramic Crown Look Fake?
Posted by Annmarie SanSevero
I had a front tooth crowned after it broke. He used a ceramic one visit crown. I was thrilled that I could get a In person, at the office, they looked fine and I thought the dentist did an amazing job. At home though, it looks more matte than my other front tooth. This is making it look fake. It’s even more noticeable in in pictures. Does this mean the shade is actually wrong? Should I replace the crown?
Jennifer
Dear Jennifer,
If you look closely at a natural front tooth, you will notice they are not the same opacity going from top to bottom. There are variations from the gumline to the biting edge. Natural enamel is translucent, plus your teeth reflect, scatter, absorb, and transmit light.
A ceramic restoration has to imitate these optical effects.
It takes a highly skilled cosmetic dentist to match a single front tooth. Even an AACD accredited dentist, which are the top dentists in the country would require two or three try ins before getting it to blend naturally.
Some dentists try to get around this by having patients do multiple crowns saying that is the only way to match a front tooth, but that is not true.
Dental Ceramics Aren’t All the Same
Different ceramic materials have different combinations of strength, opacity, and translucency. The dentist has to consider much more than simply choosing A1 or another shade from a dental shade guide. For a highly visible restoration, like the one done on your front tooth, the dentist and ceramist need to work together to reproduce variations in translucency, characterization, surface texture, and luster.
But, using a CEREC one-day crown, will be milled out of a single block of porcelain. This does not allow for the different translucencies needed to make the tooth look natural. A skilled cosmetic dentist can mill the crown from several different blocks of porcelain, which will have different properties and will allow the dentist to create a natural looking results.
The structure underneath the crown makes a difference as well. A severely discolored tooth or certain types of underlying conditions may need to be masked without making the finished crown look unnaturally opaque.
It is a balancing act between keeping it opaque enough to hide what shouldn’t show and translucent enough to let that light and shine through for that gorgeous, natural look.
Should You Replace the Crown?
The thing about cosmetic dentistry is what matters most is how you feel about the smile than anything else, as long as the crown is functional. If the look of the crown is going to bother you and make you feel self-conscious about your smile, then yes, you should replace it. It would lovely if your dentist was willing to re-do it simply because you don’t like the way it looks and feel it makes your smile look fake, but if he’s unwilling there’s little recourse you have if the crown is functional.
If he or she is willing, then make sure he does a temporary try in of the crown and you get to see it in a variety of lightings. If you don’t feel it matches your adjacent teeth, they should send it back to the lab. If your dentist isn’t willing to redo it without charge, then I would only have it done by an AACD accredited dentist. They’re the best cosmetic dentists in the country and can provide you with a stunning result.
This blog is brought to you by a compassionate dentist in Franklin, TN, Dr. Christopher Weber.
