I have two porcelain fused to metal crowns on my front teeth. They’ve been there for quite some time and there is a dark line that is showing at my gumline. I’ve read this is common with porcelain fused to metal crowns, so I’ve decided to get them replaced with all porcelain crowns. I also want to get my teeth whitened. To me it makes sense to do the whitening first, so that my dentist can match the new crowns to my newly whitened teeth, but thought I should get another opinion. What do you think?
Carrie- Texas
Carrie,
You’ve made two good choices. It is a great idea to get your crowns replaced with all porcelain crowns, especially on your front teeth. Not only will you not need to worry about the dark line at the gumline, but porcelain fused to metal crowns are more opaque out of necessity. With all porcelain, you can have crowns that really look like your own natural teeth. Your second good decision is to get your teeth whitening done first. Once they are done, crowns cannot be whitened. If you tried, your natural teeth would whiten, but your crowns would remain the same color. With them being on your front teeth, that would look very weird. However, you will need to wait a few weeks after whitening to have your new crowns done. After the first two weeks, the color will stabilize and your dentist will be able to match the color exactly.
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