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I have tetracycline-stained teeth. I’ve seen two cosmetic dentists about having some work done to improve my smile. One is suggesting porcelain veneers. The other porcelain crowns. The dentist suggesting porcelain veneers is more expensive than the one suggesting crowns. Is there a benefit to one over the other?
Lizzie
* Note * We reached out to Lizzie and asked her the names of the dentists she is considering and she got back to us. We’ll call Dentist A – the porcelain veneers dentist and Dentist B – the porcelain crown dentist.
Dear Lizzie,
When it comes to any type of smile makeover, the key is the dentist. Dentist A is a very good cosmetic dentist. It does not surprise me that his prices are higher than the other dentist’s. Generally, when a dentist suggests dental crowns for tetracycline stains it is because he is not comfortable or well trained in porcelain veneers. This is the case with dentist B. When I looked at his website, he had no cosmetic training and no smile gallery. Both of those are bad signs when it comes to having a smile makeover done.
Tetracycline stains are one of the most difficult cosmetic cases to work with. This means you will need someone with expertise. Inexperienced cosmetic dentists will pick crowns because they think the added thickness will make it easier for them to hide the tetracycline stains. It will not. They almost always turn out too opaque.
Dentist A has great cosmetic training and, looking at his smile gallery, I can see he does beautiful work. My recommendation would be to have your upper arch done with him using porcelain veneers. You can save money by doing teeth whitening on the lower arch instead of veneers. With the type of stains you are dealing with, I would suggest using Kor Whitening. It has some good results with tetracycline and is more powerful than most teeth whitening because of its delivery method.
This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Dr. John Theriot.