I have tetracycline stains and want to get a beautiful smile. I had planned on getting porcelain veneers but my dentist said because of my overbite he would suggest dental crowns. He’d like to do six crowns on my top teeth. I have two questions before I move forward with this. First, the teeth are healthy so I’d really rather get porcelain veneers. Is that possible with an overbite? Second, what is the procedure to make the bottom teeth sort of match?
Brooke
Dear Brooke,
I am glad you wrote. For an overbite, porcelain veneers actually make more sense than porcelain crowns. With veneers, they only cover the front of the teeth and hug the sides a smidge. With crowns, however, they have to go around the entire tooth, so they would need more space. If that is the case, why did your dentist suggest dental crowns?
Bear in mind that this is only a guess, but many dentists who are not comfortable placing porcelain veneers will make up an excuse to use dental crowns. This is especially true when it comes to tetracycline stains. These are among the most difficult cases to treat. It really requires an expert cosmetic dentist.
This is another area where some dentists will try to use crowns as a crutch. The trick with tetracycline stains is getting them opaque enough to cover the stains, but still translucent enough to have that natural shine. If they aren’t comfortable with how to do that, they think the extra thickness of the crown will hide the stains better. It won’t.
I recommend you go to one of the expert dentists listed on the mynewsmile.com website. They will be the safest ones to have place porcelain veneers for you.
As to the bottom teeth, under normal circumstances, we would just bleach the teeth. It’s a bit trickier with tetracycline stains. The Kör Bleaching system has had the best success with tetracycline cases, but it will depend on the severity of the stains you are dealing with.
This blog is brought to you by West Seneca Dentist Dr. Warren Krutchick.