Baton Rouge Dentist

Why can’t I whiten my crown?

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My dental crown has started to get stained. I don’t know what to do. My teeth are discolored anyway, so I thought I could knock off two birds with one stone, but my dentist says it is not impossible. Is there anything I can do?

A.J.  – San Diego

A.J.,

Unfortunately, your dentist is right. Dental work, such as veneers or crowns, cannot be whitened even with professional teeth whitening. Your only option is the have the dental crown replaced. If you do this, let me give you some advice that will make it the best result possible for you.

First, if you’re going to want to get your teeth whitened as well, you’ll want to do that before you get your new crown made. That way your crown can be specifically designed to match your new white smile.

Secondly, you’ll want to get all-porcelain crowns, not porcelain fused to metal. That will give you a more natural and aesthetic result.

This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Ryan Perry.

Whiten dark lines at top of teeth

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I’ve been getting these dark lines at the top of my teeth, near the gumline. It’s on all the teeth that have dental crowns. Will teeth whitening solve this problem?

Stacy S.  – Wyoming

Stacy,

Unfortunately, the problem isn’t your teeth, it’s your crown. You can’t whiten dental crowns using teeth whitening. It sounds like your dentist gave you porcelain fused to metal crowns. Eventually, they all develop a dark line at your gumline.

The only way to fix this problem is to get new crowns. This time get all porcelain crowns. They’ll be more natural looking and you won’t get a gray line. However, because you realize that dental work can’t get whitened, you might consider getting your teeth whitened before you re-do the crowns. Then, you can get the all-porcelain crown to match your new sparkly white smile.

This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Ryan Perry.

Whitening Crowns

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I had a dental crown put on over a tooth that was in bad shape and needed a lot of work. I was a little disappointed with how it looks. It’s a  little opaquey for my taste.  Is there anything I can do to brighten it? Will teeth whitening work?

Alishia D.- Greenville, South Carolina

Alishia,

Have you spoken to your dentist regarding how your feel about the crown? It sounds like it was put in pretty recently. If he hasn’t permanently bonded it, then he could send it back and try to get it to look like what you were expecting.

Because your describing it as opaque, I suspect your dentist placed a porcelain fused to metal crown. Those are definitely more opaque than the all-porcelain crowns because they have to be able to hide the metal foundation.

As far as using teeth whitening to improve their appearance, that won’t work.  Teeth Whitening, whether professional or over the counter, isn’t able to whiten any type of dental work. Your best bet is to have the rest of your teeth whitened, then have your dentist make a new all-porcelain crown (not fused to metal) that will match the new whiter color of your teeth.

This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Ryan Perry.