When I was very young I was given the antibiotic tetracycline, and it left my teeth quite stained. Many of my teeth were misshaped or crooked, so my smile was not a pretty thing. In my early twenties I had crowns put on to cover the staining. That was quite some time ago, and they were the old porcelain-fused-to-metal kind of crowns. Now after more than 20 years they aren’t looking so good. There is a dark line along the line of my gums, and I have a very big smile, so it is very noticeable.
I saw a show where they used Lumineers, and the results were so beautiful! Would something like that work for me, or is there a way to brighten up my old porcelain-fused-to-metal kind of crowns? Any information you can provide would be wonderful.
Nevil in Bar Harbor
Dear Nevil,
The best advice we can offer you is make sure you fully understand the difference between a general dentist and a trained, experienced, artistically skilled cosmetic dentist. The procedure you require is quite straight forward and simple, but you need to make absolutely sure you get the right professional to help you with this. Anyone can say that they do cosmetic dentistry, but the professional you want to work with will have special training and will likely be affiliated or accredited by the American Aca
demy of Cosmetic Dentists. He or she will also have a smile gallery on their web page, or at the very least some before and after pictures of the work they have done that demonstrates their skill. Don’t skimp on the reference checking! Who you choose to work with is critical to the success of this venture.
Lumineers are a brand of super-thin porcelain veneers, and will probably not work for you. You need new all-porcelain or all-ceramic crowns. There are many different brands of all-porcelain or all-ceramic crowns, and your dentist will know which one will work best for you.
This information was brought to you by the dental office of Seattle cosmetic dentist Dr. McKay.