I am not too thrilled with my porcelain veneers. I know this sounds weird, but my smile makeover looks flat and way too shiny, which makes them look fake. I don’t understand why it looks like this. Is there anything that can be done to fix them? I was thinking we could take off some of the shiny glaze.
Stacey
Dear Stacey,
While taking off the glaze will take away some of the shine, it won’t make them look better. In fact, it is the glaze that protects your porcelain veneers from picking up stains. If the glaze is removed, they would not only look matte, but would also quickly begin to pick up stains and turn yellow.
I think I know what is going on with your smile, though. If you look at the smile pictured above, you will notice that the teeth are not uniform. Not only are there textures on the teeth, but the color has varying levels of opacity and translucency. Believe it or not, one of the teeth in the image is fake. It takes an expert cosmetic dentist to make them match and blend so well.
Without that expertise, a dentist may not know how to create the textures, which will make your smile look flat and too white. My guess is that is what happened to you. Though, I haven’t actually examined you. I am just speculating here.
A true cosmetic dentist would have placed your veneers on with a temporary try-in paste so that you could have gotten a very good look at them and approved them before they are bonded on. Then, you could have had a chance to say what you didn’t like and they could have been sent back to the lab to make changes.
My suggestion is you ask your dentist to redo your porcelain veneers. If they care about the quality of their work, they will not have a problem making certain you are satisfied. You paid for a beautiful smile and should get one. There is always the possibility that the dentist does not have the skills. In that case, you may be better off just asking for a refund and then going to see a dentist who is AACD accredited. These are the best cosmetic dentists in the country.
However, I’d give your dentist a chance first. We all start somewhere and need opportunities to learn. Just make sure this time they use that temporary try-in paste I mentioned earlier.
This blog is brought to you by Hilton Head Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Bonnie Rothwell.
