My Dentist Can’t Match My Implant Crown

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I need some advice. My dentist is completely fed up with me. I had a dental implant placed on a front tooth. The problem I’m having is that the crown just doesn’t match the tooth next to it. I’ve had my dentist try three times and he feels I am being ungrateful and too picky. The problem lies in the fact that my natural tooth color seems to fall between two colorings. A1 is too grey/white and A2 is too yellow. He said if I keep asking him to change it that I risk losing the dental implant. Now I’m panicked about the implant but also do not want teeth that don’t match. Do you have any recommendations for my situation?

Bernice

Dear Bernice,

The problem you are facing is not the color of your teeth but the cosmetic skill of your dentist. He’s using a basic shade guide to get the color for your dental implant crown. This could work with teeth further back in your mouth, but your front teeth are very exposed to the light. As a result all the variations in the tooth are very visible. Just using a shade guide will not work.

Instead, what an artistic cosmetic dentist will do is send a color map, such as the one I have to the left. In addition to shade guides, there are tint tabs with a variety of tint colors. The dentist draws out where to put which tints. Adding these will give the crown a much more natural look that can blend with your adjacent tooth perfectly.

Even an expert cosmetic dentist will need to do a few try-ins in order to get it exactly right, so your dentist is wrong that you are being too picky. He is not being picky enough. Ideally, he would have used a temporary try-in paste in order to do those first attempts. Then, when he had the shades and tints just right it would be permanently bonded on. He either doesn’t know about the temporary try-in paste, or never really plans on making a real effort.

That being said, as long as you have a healthy dental implant, there should be no problem with grinding it off to get it done correctly with another dentist. My suggestion is you see and AACD accredited dentist. These are the top cosmetic dentists in the country. They’ll understand the principles I’ve shared and have the artistry to give you a beautiful crown.

This blog is brought to you by Naples, FL Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Long.