The top of my old root canal tooth turned blue. The tooth had a filling, but my dentist bleached the tooth six weeks ago. That didn’t work, so she put a crown over it. The first crown was too white, so my dentist had the lab redo it. It still does not match my right front tooth, an implant crown. I damaged both teeth in an accident in 2015 but lost one of them. This crown redo process is getting old. How many more times should I let my dentist try to get the color of the root canal tooth to match the implant crown? Thank you. Heather from S. Dakota

Heather,

Thank you for your question.

Matching Crown Color on a Front Tooth

Matching color with a single front tooth is challenging for most dentists. You can quickly notice even a slight color difference on front teeth. Dentists who lack cosmetic dentistry training sometimes ask their patients to put new crowns on both front teeth. Here’s why:

• Each tooth has multiple shades and variations in translucence.
• An expert cosmetic will use a high-quality camera and detailed instructions to help a dental ceramist match your crowns.
• An expert dental ceramist in a lab will layer porcelain and add tints to match the other tooth.
• A cosmetic dentist is willing to try a temporary crown on your tooth multiple times to achieve a perfect match with your implant crown.
• You and your cosmetic dentist should look at your crown in various lighting conditions to detect any color differences.
• Your cosmetic dentist should only cement the crown to your tooth when you both are confident of a perfect color match.

We recommend speaking with your dentist to see if she can work with a dental lab to match your crowns. Otherwise, you can schedule a consultation with an experienced cosmetic to discuss your options.

Dr. Gilberto Tostado, a San Antonio, Texas cosmetic dentist, sponsors this post.