I needed fillings on a front tooth so I asked my dentist to do one of those white fillings. He agreed and, while they are better than having silver on my front teeth, they don’t match the rest of my teeth which are white. My dentist tried bleaching them but that only made it worse. What do I do?
Katelyn
Dear Katelyn,
I am sorry this is happening to you. While you were right to choose white composite fillings, it sounds like your dentist is new to this advancement. In fact, based on what you’ve told me, it doesn’t sound like he understands anything about cosmetic work either.
The fillings could have been made to match your teeth perfectly. The composite material used for these type of fillings comes in every shade imaginable. The fact that they don’t match means he didn’t create the right shade.
As to him trying to do teeth whitening to solve the problem, that wouldn’t work either (as you’ve discovered). The bleaching gel only works on natural tooth structure. This means while your teeth will get whiter, the composite fillings will stay the same color. This requires only a basic understanding of how teeth whitening works.
The way for you to get this fixed is to have the fillings re-done. However, I don’t think having your dentist re-do them is a good idea. Because he already mismatched them and charged you for teeth whitening to “fix” it, I think you should ask for him to pay for another dentist to do this.
Look for dentists who do a good job with dental bonding. That will give you an idea of who has the capabilities.
This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo, MI Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.