Six new crowns and I don’t like the color

I just had six crowns done in the front and the color in natural light is pretty yellow and dingy as opposed to the office. I’m just sick over this. My dentist was very clear that I chose the color, even though we only discussed color for 30 seconds. Now he suggests veneers over them if I pay the lab fees. Do you have any suggestions on how I should handle this?

- Sarah from New York

Sarah,
I wouldn’t do any more cosmetic dentistry with this dentist. There are some dentists that are really passionate about appearance-related dentistry, and those dentists will have procedures in place that will insure that you love your new teeth before they’re put on. They will have full-spectrum lighting in their offices that simulate natural sunlight because of this very problem that you have discovered—the teeth look one color in the office and another color outside. If it were really important to this dentist how you thought this smile looked, he would never have put these crowns on in the first place.

It should be the same cost whether you do new porcelain crowns or porcelain veneers over your existing crowns. And doing porcelain veneers over existing crowns has so much potential for going wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if you would end up looking worse with that route.

I think you have two reasonable choices. The first is to just live with your result. The second is to save your money and have these re-done by a true artist/dentist. Maybe 2% of dentists would fit into this category. Most dentists are technician-minded, and went into dentistry because they like to fix things. Only a small percentage are really passionate about appearance-related dentistry. When the dentistry is functional, your not being happy with the appearance isn’t sufficient grounds before a judge or a dental peer review committee for any recovery on your part.

Seattle cosmetic dentist

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