Dr. Hall:My teeth are a little crooked and discolored by smoking, coffee etc. I had been looking into Cerinate
porcelain veneers and I went to see a dentist about them, he started saying how we needed to do several other procedures and then
teeth whitening, however, I have had to have several
composite fillings and know that teeth whitening will not work on composite fillings, I really feel that the porcelain veneers would be perfect but he acted like they would not work on my teeth. Would it be better to have all my filings redone and then get my teeth whitened or should I try to get veneers?
—Julie from Oklahoma
Dear Julie,
Porcelain veneers are an excellent treatment when your teeth are a little
crooked and discolored. I think that your dentist is giving you a signal
that he isn't comfortable doing porcelain veneers. You see, most dentists
are trained to fix things that are broken. They have strong "technician"
inclinations, and aren't that interested in creating beautiful teeth. And
cosmetic dentistry requires a lot of specialized training.We're trained
in dental school not to ever let a patient see that we are uncomfortable
with a procedure we're doing. It causes the patient to be uneasy and
anxious. So, when you're trying to push a dentist out of his or her
comfort zone, their answer will often be that this procedure just won't
work well for you.
Now, doing fillings and tooth whitening works well, too. It depends on
what you want. A good cosmetic dentist will listen carefully to what you
want and then explain what treatments can be done to get the results
you're wanting.
If you want your teeth to look straight, you either need porcelain veneers or
invisible braces, or regular
braces. With invisible braces, you can whiten your teeth with the clear trays that are used at the same time you're straightening them. But if you're willing to live with them being a little crooked, you can just get your teeth whitened.
You
may want to read our page about how it is done when you both whiten and
need fillings.
And after whitening, you have to wait about two weeks to see what the final color of your teeth is.
I hope this is helpful.
—Dr. Hall
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referral to an expert cosmetic dentist.
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