i had four porcelain veneers placed. They look fine and are nice and white. The problem I have is that the teeth next to them are not and that makes my nice pretty veneers look fake. Do you have a recommendation for how to handle this?
Denae
Dear Denae,
I am very glad you wrote. Most smiles are eight to ten teeth wide, so I can understand why your teeth look mismatched. Not many people can afford ten porcelain veneers. The standard operating procedure is for a dentist to recommend that a patient get teeth whitening done before they have their porcelain veneers designed. This helps your teeth that do not have porcelain veneers to blend in naturally with the veneered teeth.
Plus, it is rare to place veneers on your bottom teeth. Whitening them will help your bottom arch to not stand out. You want both arches of teeth to look like they belong together. When we talk, the bottom teeth are what people see. When we smile, it is our top teeth that people see.
The good news is that it is not too late for you to whiten those teeth and help them look more natural. While the teeth whitening gel will not harm your porcelain veneers, it is possible for your dentist to create a custom fit teeth whitening trays which will go around the veneers and only allow the gel on your natural teeth.
I’m glad you like your smile makeover. It sounds like your dentist is not a very experienced cosmetic dentist. Sometimes when that happens, the patient ends up with a disaster of a smile that looks worse than the one they came in with. I’m glad that did not happen to you.
Get that tooth bleaching done and you will be much happier with your smile makeover.
This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.