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My new crowns are turning yellow

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Dear Dr. Hall
I was so thankful to find your website. I have been so upset for the last three weeks since these crowns have been in my mouth. I had 6 porcelain crowns on my upper front teeth. I selected color BL1, because I wanted really white teeth. My own teeth have always been very white.

But when I got the crowns, it didn’t seem to me that they were the color I selected. And now, on top of everything else, they are getting yellow. If I have a cup of coffee or something else, it seems like it stains the teeth a little. I have a consultation appointment this coming Monday about this, and I’m hoping you can give me some good advice. I haven’t been smiling because the crowns have yellow on them. I have been using Supersmile toothpaste, but it doesn’t seem to help.

My dream of beautiful white porcelain crowns is now a nightmare!

I have been looking at another dental office near me, [name redacted], and wondered if you would recommend this dentist.

Yours
Janyce in Miami, Florida

I found this blog searching for yellow crowns.

(See Dr. Hall’s answer below.)


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Dear Janyce,
I have a couple of things to say about your case.

If these are truly porcelain crowns with the glaze intact, they will not stain or pick up any yellow color. I have known a case where a patient was told she was getting porcelain veneers, which soon began to stain, and it turned out they were made from a cheaper resin substitute. I would be very surprised if that were done with crowns, but I guess it’s possible. It’s also possible that something has happened to break the glaze on your crowns. That can happen with power polishing equipment such as the Prophy Jet, or it can happen with a fluoride treatment at a dental office, if they use acidulated fluoride instead of neutral fluoride. Acids in general, such as the citric acid present in lemons and other citrus fruits, ascorbic acid in vitamin C, or the hydrochloric acid that would come up from your stomach in acid reflux, will not affect the porcelain at all. But the acid in acidulated fluoride is hydrofluoric acid which will etch the glaze away and leave your crowns with a satin, slightly rough and porous surface that will pick up stain. And, if that is happened, Supersmile toothpaste won’t take the stain away, because it has become embedded in the pores of the porcelain. Supersmile dissolves the protein pellicle on your teeth to which stains attach themselves, so it is very effective on teeth, but it also has low abrasivity, so it won’t remove stains on a rough surface.

You may want a second opinion from an expert cosmetic dentist to determine if something like this has happened.

But I also wanted to add a point about the color of your crowns. Admittedly, I don’t know the full details of your case, but I want to make some generalized comments here for the benefit of the readers who could be making some not helpful assumptions from reading the sketchy details we havephoto of the Ivoclar shade guide extension for bleached teeth, showing shades BL1, BL2, BL3, and BL4 about your case.

You said that the shade you picked was BL1. This shade is white beyond the whiteness of any natural teeth. On the right is a photo of the Ivoclar shade guide for bleached teeth. This shade guide was invented in the early 90s after bleaching began to become popular and the conventional shade guides that had been used for many years didn’t have samples matching these now super-white teeth that were whiter than any teeth that had been seen before. Your natural teeth could not have been this shade without having been bleached.

Here is the complete shade guide with the bleached shade extensions off to the left. The shade B1 is the color of very white natural teeth, and was the whitest shade we ever saw as dentists until the advent of teeth bleaching. The most common shade of adult teeth is probably A2.
a shade guide with the bleached tooth shade bl1 to bl4 on the left, and the rest showing the 15 natural shades A1 to D4
If you had not bleached your teeth, and you had come to me wanting 6 porcelain crowns on your upper front teeth, there is no way I would have given you crowns with a BL1 shade without addressing the color of the teeth further back. Otherwise, they would look fake because your darker premolars would be showing when you smiled, leaving you with a serious mismatch in colors. I would, of course, have told you that to give you the chance, if you were adamant about that request, to get that done by a different dentist. If you had wanted me to do it, there would be two ways we could get a match with the other teeth. For one, we could first bleach your teeth to see if we could get them that white. Or, we could do porcelain veneers on the remaining two or four upper teeth that show in your smile. You can get away with having the lower teeth be darker than your upper teeth, because lower teeth tend to be in the shadows anyway and it is natural for them to appear a little darker. But having a mismatch between the front six teeth and the premolars is not quality cosmetic dentistry.

About Getting a Second Opinion

It sounds like you’re already thinking about seeking a second opinion, which I think would be a good move. But I wouldn’t go to the dental office you suggested to me. I checked out their website, and there are two red flags. The first is that they have no smile gallery displayed. Any dentist in the Miami area who is serious about cosmetic dentistry is going to have photographs of successful cases, and is going to be eager to display those publicly. The office you suggested to me has no smile gallery. Also, while the information on the website about smile makeovers is fairly detailed, it shows to me a lack of artistic sensitivity and no depth of knowledge about the procedure. For example, it says that the color you want for the veneers will be picked after the teeth are prepared, an impression taken, and the case ready to send to the lab. But the final color is fundamental to the case and should be decided in the initial consultation, as well as the particular smile design you want, which isn’t mentioned. Finally, the doctor shows no cosmetic credentials—no post-graduate training in cosmetic dentistry or any accreditation. So I would definitely pick someone else. We have several recommended cosmetic dentists in the Miami area that you can check out.

Do you have a comment or anything else to add? We’d love to hear from you. Enter your comment below. Or click here to ask Dr. Hall a question.

About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

My porcelain crowns are turning yellow

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Dr. Hall,
I have six porcelain crowns in the upper front. They are six months old and are turning yellow. I don’t smoke or drink any soda. I drink a cup of coffee every morning and water the rest of the day. I brush at least twice a day. They were beautiful when I first got them. I am super disappointed and don’t know what to do. Please help.
– Tonya from Ohio
 

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Tonya
Something is definitely wrong, and you need a second opinion about your case from an expert cosmetic dentist. Find someone from our list or ask around to find someone. You may want to check an earlier post in which I include some tips about how to ask for a second opinion. Porcelain is extremely stain-resistant, even more so than natural teeth, and neither smoking nor heavy coffee drinking will discolor it.
I’ll give you a couple of possibilities of what could be wrong, and hopefully an expert cosmetic dentist looking at your crowns can tell you which it is.

•You say the crowns are six months old. That would give you time to have had another checkup and cleaning. The hygienist cleaning your teeth could have damaged the surface of the crowns. There are two things he or she could have done to damage that surface. One would be by using a power cleaning instrument such as a Prophy Jet, which blasts sodium bicarbonate on your teeth to get them extra clean. This will remove the glaze of the porcelain leaving them vulnerable to stain. Another would be giving you a fluoride treatment with acidulated fluoride, which will etch away the glaze chemically.

•The crowns could have been put on with the glazed surface already damaged. If the dentist had to adjust the front surfaces of the crowns, he or she could have ground away the glaze. Or maybe the laboratory didn’t properly glaze them in the first place.

•The crowns could be actually made of another material, not porcelain. As outlandish as this sounds, I have had emails from patients complaining of porcelain crowns or porcelain veneers turning yellow and it was discovered that they were made of composite, not porcelain. If your dentist has misrepresented your treatment to this extent, I probably don’t need to tell you that you have a lot of leverage for getting your dentist to pay another dentist to get this done right for you. A simple refund may not be enough money because your crowns may be discounted—they need to pay the full fee for another dentist to do it right. Otherwise, you could get them in deep trouble.

Anyway, good luck with getting to the bottom of this. I’d be interested in finding out what you learn in your second opinion, if you wouldn’t mind getting back to me.
Thanks,
Dr. Hall
 

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About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

Too much shine on my porcelain veneers

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Angela saw my post, “Do porcelain veneers lose their shine?” and wrote the following comment, which deserves its own post to answer:

I don’t know why he wants shine. I just had my porcelain veneers installed and I HATE the shine. That’s how you can tell that those teeth are fake, they have this crazy unnatural shine and spoil every picture. Is it possible to REDUCE shine? Is there anything I can do to make them shine less. Its a blinding shine that looks awful , real teeth don’t shine like that.
– Angela

Angela,
Thanks for a great comment. It opens up an opportunity to discuss an important aspect of a smile makeover that isn’t often discussed, and that is the shine and texture of the surface.

The glaze on the porcelain is very important. That’s what gives the porcelain it’s excellent stain resistance and gives the porcelain its natural sparkle that makes it look so real. But it needs to be applied correctly. In order for it to look lifelike, there has to be some texture. It sounds like what you have is a very flat surface on your porcelain veneers, and that will generally look fake.

Here is a photograph of someone’s smile. Three of these teeth are real and one, the lateral incisor on the right, is a crown.

photo of four front teeth showing the texture and sparkle of porcelain crowns

Notice that the surface of the teeth, while it is shiny, is irregular. This gives the teeth a sparkle, and is one of the characteristics of a beautiful, natural smile. And the amount of texture can be varied to create different impressions. Younger smiles tend to have more texture. As we get older, the teeth wear down and so have less texture on the surface.

But let’s go to your case, Angela. It’s interesting that you say that you just had these porcelain veneers bonded on and you hate them. That will never happen with an excellent cosmetic dentist. I talk with many expert cosmetic dentists and I ask them about the try-in procedure, and every one of them tells me how important it is to them that the patient love the new smile before they bond it on. Even if the patient says they like the veneers but they’re just lukewarm about it, an excellent cosmetic dentist will ask why and, if necessary, will send the case back to the laboratory to be re-done until the patient is enthusiastic about them. That clearly never happened in your case.

You say you want to reduce the shine. There are ways to do that. The quickest way is to have a dental hygienist use a Prophy Jet to polish them. This applies a powerful sodium bicarbonate spray to the teeth and will destroy the glaze from the porcelain. But then your veneers will readily attract stain, and, without the natural texture, they still won’t look natural.

My advice would be to go back to your dentist and see if you can talk him or her into re-doing them. You paid for a beautiful smile—that’s what you should get. And insist that you get to see them temporarily placed on your teeth and that you approve of them before letting the dentist bond them on.
– Dr. Hall

Do you have a comment or a question or anything else to add? We’d love to hear from you. Enter your comment below.

Click here to ask Dr. Hall a question of your own.

About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

Staining around 1-year-old porcelain veneers

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I got veneers almost a year ago now & I am noticing staining between my teeth. I do smoke, but i thought veneers were pretty hard to stain? Should I make an appointment with the cosmetic dentist that did them? I’m still paying on these, almost finished paying them off. I don’t want to continue paying if this is going to get any worse. I can send a pic if you want. Thanks!!
– Kayla from South Carolina

Kayla,
I would like to have a picture of these, because it could be one of a couple of different things going on. Lacking a picture, I will take my best guess.

You’re right that the porcelain itself won’t stain unless the glazed surface is damaged somehow, like with a power polishing machine like Prophy Jet, or with a fluoride treatment with acidulated fluoride. If either of those had happened to you, however, there would be staining across the entire surface of the porcelain veneers.

Since your staining is between the teeth, it seems likely that it is at the margins where the porcelain meets the tooth. There are two or three reasons that this area could be attracting stain. If there is a gap between the porcelain and the tooth, that would be tricky to fix. But my guess is that there is just some area of bonding composite here, and that is pretty easy to polish. But I would go back to the dentist who did these veneers for you and not expect a general family dentist to know how to do this correctly. This area most likely was polished when you had your veneers bonded. It may just need to be re-polished.

When I practiced, I encouraged my porcelain veneer patients to schedule regular re-polishing appointments where my hygienist would use ultra-fine polishing strips in this area and a special ultra-fine aluminum oxide polishing paste, to keep this area as smooth as possible and resistant to stain and plaque accumulation, to prolong the life of the veneers as much as possible. The point is that this is an ingredient of maintenance, and not anything that indicates that the veneers were poorly done. As such, I would expect to pay for this visit. For most patients, any accumulated stain would be minor. If you’re a smoker, though, it would be more obvious.

You can check out my page of tips for porcelain veneers post-operative care where I explain this polishing maintenance and address the possibility of staining.
– Dr. Hall

Do you have a comment or a question or anything else to add? We’d love to hear from you. Enter your comment below.

Click here to ask Dr. Hall a question of your own.

About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

Porcelain veneers turning gray. Is it the Listerine?

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Hello Dr.Hall
I had 20 porcelain veneers done 8 months ago. I’ve been using Listerine (has alcohol in it) and using a strong toothbrush and using Colgate toothpaste. And lately my teeth look grey so I Google online saying I shouldn’t be using any of this above. Dr. Hall is it because of the Listerine and toothbrush and paste that why my veneers turned grey? When I left the dentist, no one told me anything about what I shouldn’t do. Please let me know thank you so much.
– Thao from California

Thao,
That’s too bad that no one in your dentist’s office gave you any instructions on how to care for your new porcelain veneers. Let me help you out.

As far as what you are doing:
1. Listerine with alcohol is not good to be using with porcelain veneers. There are mouthwashes without alcohol. Click here for the blog tag on alcohol-free mouthwashes for more information on that.

2. Neither is a strong toothbrush good for porcelain veneers. Use a soft brush. Soft toothbrushes clean more effectively anyway.

3. Colgate toothpaste shouldn’t be a problem. Colgate regular (not the super-whitening or tartar-control formula) is one of the toothpastes that is less abrasive than most. I would recommend Supersmile toothpaste for porcelain veneers, but Colgate regular isn’t that bad a choice.

However, none of these practices will cause your veneers to turn gray. The Listerine and the hard toothbrush will damage the margins, which could lead to a ditching at the margin or staining at the margin. If there is a general slight graying of the veneers, I see only two possibilities for that. Either what you got wasn’t really porcelain, or something happened to damage the surface, something stronger than toothpaste or mouthwash or a brush. You say this is after 8 months. If you had a cleaning at 6 months and the dental hygienist used a Prophy Jet or other power polishing machine (see our page on Prophy Jet damage to porcelain veneers), that would certainly do it. If you’ve been in violent sandstorms or you work with sand-blasting equipment, that could also do it. Otherwise, I would suspect that the veneers aren’t really porcelain.

– Dr. Hall

Do you have a comment or a question or anything else to add? We’d love to hear from you. Enter your comment below.

Click here to ask Dr. Hall a question of your own.

About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

Is the Cavitron safe for use with porcelain veneers?

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Dr. Hall,
I just had my first dental cleaning with my new veneers….placed by a cosmetic dentist recommended on your website. The tool used to clean was called a “cavitron.” It seemed to shoot out a lot of water while cleaning the teeth. I’m assuming that this is safe because this is a very good dentist, but after reading your website, I got nervous. Can you let me know if the cavitron is ok, not too harsh on the porcelain…
Thank you for this excellent website.
– Anna from Connecticut

Anna,
Yes, the Cavitron is an ultrasonic scaler, and in my advice for care of porcelain veneers I have written a caution about that, that an ultrasonic scaler can chip the margins of porcelain veneers. It’s not the water that is the cause for concern, but the metal tip that vibrates at an ultrasonic frequency. But thanks to your bringing this to my attention, I have gone over this advice to update it. After some additional years of experience with these machines, I’m going to soften that advice somewhat. Ultrasonic scalers like the Cavitron have gotten very popular with dental hygienists and I believe that most quality offices are now using them. I believe that if hygienists are skillful in using them, are smooth in their motions and don’t dwell on the margin area, that they are fine. So where I used to list ultrasonic scalers as unsafe to use with porcelain veneers I’m going to say now that in the hands of a good hygienist you should be fine.

These ultrasonic scalers are powerful and they not only have the potential to nick the margins of porcelain restorations, but they can nick the cementum of teeth, causing a roughness that will attract plaque and calculus. But I have had the opportunity to observe closely in the past few years at three dental offices where the hygienists have used ultrasonic scalers, and they have all been excellent with them, to where I really don’t think there is a risk of damaging the porcelain.

The two absolute no-no for dental hygienists in maintaining porcelain veneers are no Prophy Jet and no acidulated fluoride treatments. The Prophy Jet sprays an abrasive at the teeth at high pressure and it will destroy the glaze on porcelain veneers. This isn’t a risk, it’s a certainty. And acidulated fluoride will etch the surface of the veneers causing similar though milder damage.

Dr. Hall

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About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

Do porcelain veneers lose their shine that quickly?

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A couple of days ago I posted a question from Aaron in Indiana. He had a smile makeover that he said had lost its shine. I invited him to give me more information, because ordinarily porcelain veneers will not lose their shine unless they are abused by a dental hygienist with a Prophy Jet power polisher, or a fluoride treatment with acidulated fluoride. Both of these will remove the glaze on porcelain veneers.

He responded by describing his treatment to me, and enclosed a photograph of the work the way it looks now. Yes, it was porcelain crowns and porcelain veneers. And he confessed to having obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

Here is the photo:

aaron-smile-makeover-going-dull

 

Yes, I would say obsessive-compulsive here. These teeth still have their shine. The glaze is still there and they look fine.

Here’s what I told him:

 

To me it looks like a normal luster on the porcelain – the glaze is still there. There may be some polishing that could be done, but myself, I wouldn’t touch it. Nothing on porcelain is as good as the natural glaze. Porcelain polishes, because porcelain is so hard, have to be a diamond paste, and a polished porcelain surface to me is second best to the original glaze.
– Dr Hall

See Aaron’s reply. His dentist polished the veneers some, and he tried Supersmile toothpaste and loves it.

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About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

After 2 months, my smile makeover is losing its luster. What is going wrong?

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Dr. Hall,
I just had a cosmetic total upper smile make over from a very credible cosmetic dentist. I am in love with the results and have been caring for my new smile better than I would my natural teeth. It was a HUGE investment, so one has to be particularly attentive. I am currently brushing with Crest 3D Glamorous white toothpaste, as it was the best toothpaste at the drug store and rinsing with Listerine whitening 6 in one with fluoride. I’ve noticed that the pearly luminescent white sheen is now significantly diminished in just over 2 months from the reconstruction. I read online that a mild baking soda paste could restore the sheen. That was tried with no success. Could my toothpaste be the problem and can the nice sheen be restored by my dentist? Will Supersmile toothpaste restore the sheen at home? And if not will it preserve the sheen if my dentist can restore the luster in office? I have an appointment with my cosmetic dentist next week and intend to ask her the same questions. Hopefully, you can reply so I am fully educated before my visit next week. I really enjoyed reading your website. Thank you for your time and consideration.
– Aaron in Indiana

Aaron,
There are two possible reasons for a loss in luster of a smile makeover within only two months. I don’t have enough information to tell you which of these is the case. If you can give me more information about exactly what was done, what material was used, and about the dentist who did them, I could tell you.

Porcelain itself is extremely hard, harder than tooth enamel, and it would take a pretty potent abrasive to dull its shine. Toothpaste alone wouldn’t do it. Power polishing equipment (such as the Prophy Jet) that is used by some dental hygienists will take away the glaze and cause the porcelain to go dull. Another thing a dental hygienist can do is to give you a fluoride treatment with acidulated fluoride. This form of fluoride has hydrofluoric acid in it, which will etch porcelain, dulling the surface and making it susceptible to stain.

The other cause of a loss in luster of a smile makeover would be that the makeover is not porcelain but composite. Composite isn’t nearly as hard as porcelain and is softer than tooth structure. A number of things can dull the shine of composite, including a toothpaste that is too abrasive, or ordinary polishing pumice used by most dental hygienists. Besides that, your mouthwash, the Listerine Whitening 6 in 1 with Fluoride, has alcohol in it. Alcohol will soften the composite so that it is even more susceptible to scratching and staining. I’d skip the mouthwash – most mouthwashes have alcohol in them.

I hope this is helpful.
Dr. Hall

(See the follow-up post: Do porcelain veneers lose their shine that quickly? Aaron tells what was done and sends a photo of the work.)

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About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

Why are my veneers this horrible yellow color? And they are going black at the top.

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Dr. Hall,
I’m getting married next year and really hate my teeth at the moment. I have veneers on the two front teeth but I have had them since I was 16. I am now 32 and they are going black at the top they are also a horrible yellow colour. I am so depressed. Why do they look like this and what can be done?
– Lisa from Liverpool

Lisa,
Porcelain veneers should be able to last 16 years if they are reasonably well taken care of and shouldn’t be turning yellow. You didn’t say these were porcelain veneers, so let’s assume they are composite veneers. Composite will discolor easily, and they can begin to discolor as soon as a year after they are placed, depending on your eating, drinking, and/or smoking habits. Porcelain veneers, if they are later cleaned with power polishing sprays such as the Prophy Jet, will lose their glaze and will similarly begin to turn yellow. You may want to read my page on yellow porcelain veneers.

The black at the top would probably be from leakage – the bond is failing near the gumline. This is a sign that they need to be replaced. If the dentist isn’t extremely careful in the bonding technique when veneers are placed, the place where that bond will begin to fail will usually be at the gumline. What happens is that fluid seeps up from the gums during the bonding process. Expert cosmetic dentists will pack what is called retraction cord between the gum and the tooth, and this cord will be impregnated with an astringent that will prevent any fluid from seeping in and contaminating the bond. This is a fairly demanding requirement of the bonding process, and dentists who don’t know what they are doing, or who are careless, will get contamination of that bond and over time you will see that blackening of the veneer near the gumline.

Bottom line: You need to get these veneers replaced. Not just for the sake of their appearance, but the leakage leads to decay underneath them, so that needs to be cleaned out before it goes too far.
– Dr. Hall

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About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

21-year-old porcelain veneers are turning dark.

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Dr. Hall,
I got porcelain veneers in my two front teeth like 21 years ago because of white calcium deposits on my teeth, but it seems like my teeth are getting darker and darker……it is very apparent in pictures. It really bothers me. What are my options?

Thank you,
Shayna from Georgia

Shayna,
I wouldn’t know for sure what the problem is with your porcelain veneers and your two front teeth without seeing them, but maybe I can be helpful.

Porcelain is very hard and stain resistant. It is actually more stain resistant than enamel, as long as its glaze is intact. But enamel has a certain capacity for self-repair by drawing minerals from your saliva. Porcelain doesn’t do that. This leads me to wonder if the glazed surface of the porcelain has been damaged.

The easiest way to damage them like this is for a dental hygienist to use power polishing equipment such as a Prophy Jet on them – that will destroy the glaze in one short appointment. They’ll look bright and clean when you’re through with your appointment, but within a couple of weeks afterward they’ll begin to attract stain and start to become darker. Or the glaze could be damaged with acidulated fluoride treatments or other means.

If they are darkening because the surface has been damaged, it may be possible to restore the beauty of your smile with sophisticated polishing techniques using diamond grit polishers. I would advise contacting one of our Georgia cosmetic dentists and getting an opinion about it. This is beyond the ability of a family dentist.

The other possibility is that your teeth are darkening under the veneers and the darker color is showing through.

Dr. Hall

Related links:
Read our page: How long do porcelain veneers last?
Read basic information about post-operative care of porcelain veneers.

About David A. Hall

Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.

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