What Cosmetic Work Will Help With Tetracycline Stains?

I’ve been offered a great job. It’s pretty public, so they have asked me to do something about my teeth. I have severe tetracycline stains, so I’ve always wanted to improve my smile anyway. I’ve saved up about 30K to this end. I’ve spoken to two dentists. One is my family dentist. He wants to crown the teeth, and his quote comes to under my budget. I’ve also spoken to someone who does more cosmetic dentistry. He wants to do veneers and only crown the teeth that already have crowns.  He comes in over my budget. I’m willing to finance the rest. I just want to know what is best for these stains?

Vicki L. – Fayetteville, AR

Vicki,

I’m glad you wrote before moving forward with this. Tetracycline stains are some of the most challenging to deal with. It really requires an expert cosmetic dentist. Your family dentist likely doesn’t have the experience needed for such an advanced procedure. Plus, he wants to crown all your teeth. I’m never a fan of grinding away healthy tooth structure.

I don’t know what kind of training and artistic development the second dentist has, but he at least has the treatment plan correct.  You’ll want to know what kind of post-graduate cosmetic dentistry training he has.

To be safe, I would either look for a dentist that is AACD accredited, or is listed on the mynewsmile.com website. They only recommend the most skilled cosmetic dentists in each state. It would be worth it to travel a little bit to get the best dentist possible.

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