I am concerned about a procedure that I have coming up and need to make a decision. I had a porcelain veneer on one front tooth and a porcelain crown on another. They never quite matched each other in color. Now my porcelain veneer has broken and my dentist said the lab is pressing him to do two dental crowns in order to get them to match perfectly. I’m not crazy about this idea because I don’t want to grind down a healthy tooth for another dental crown. Is that the only way to get them to match?
Sylvia
Dear Sylvia,
I am not too confident in the dentist you have doing this for a few reasons. First is the initial color mismatch. While dental crowns and porcelain veneers have to use different types of color maps in order to get the same results, it is possible. He should never have bonded them on if he didn’t have the match right to begin with. This leads me to my second concern.
Porcelain veneers by themselves are very fragile and can be easily crushed or broken. It is the bond that makes them strong. If your dentist had properly bonded them, it would be highly unlikely the veneer would have broken to begin with.
A third issue I see is his excuse. He said the lab is pressuring him. It is the dentist who tells the lab what to do, not the other way around. So, either he is not being honest with you and is lying to make an excuse or he’s letting a subpar lab boss him around. Neither of those is a great option.
My advice is to get a different dentist to do this procedure. It may take several try-ins even with an excellent cosmetic dentist so be patient while he or she gets it right, but they will be able to get it right. They will need to use a temporary try-in paste for the porcelain veneer that is being replaced. You should get to look at it in a variety of different types of lighting. If they do not match, your dentist should send it back to the lab with new instructions in order to make the changes you need before it is permanently bonded on.
This blog is brought to you by East Cobb Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Cristi Cheek.