Can you tell me what the whitest shade is you can get with your teeth? I have very white teeth, but wanted to fix a small aesthetic problem with my two front teeth. My dentist suggested I let him lumineers on those teeth. The problem is the lumineers don’t match my other teeth. They’re a little darker. My dentist assures me he gave me the lightest shade, but I don’t like the fact that they don’t match. He told me just to stop whitening my teeth and they’d go to the shade of the lumineers. I’m really disappointed with this. I feel like my teeth look worse then when I did the repair. Is he right about the lightest shade?
Carissa B- Montana
Carissa,
I’m afraid you’re experiencing the difference between a general dentist who has learned some cosmetic procedures and a cosmetic dentist. I can tell that simply from the terminology he is using. B1 is considered the lightest shade because that is the whitest coloration you tend to get without bleaching. However, with teeth whitening you can get much whiter teeth. The point of cosmetic dentistry is to make the patient love their smile. At a minimum that means your dentist should have matched your Lumineers to your natural teeth. However, there is much more to cosmetic dentistry than that. Also, bear in mind that Lumineers are just a brand of veneers. Many cosmetic dentists don’t like using them because they tend to not be as artistic and your required to use their lab. We have our own master ceramist we work with that gets all of our porcelain veneers done exactly to our instructions.
If you want the smile you were hoping for, you’ll need to get your veneers re-done. When you do, make sure you go to an experienced cosmetic dentist.
This blog is brought to you by Boca Raton Cosmetic Dentist Dr. David Kagan.