Color Issue As Well As Broken Veneer

About a year ago I received a porcelain veneer and a porcelain crown. I was not happy with the color and then about a month ago my veneer broke. I went into my dentists office and they offered to redo the broken veneer as well as redo the crown but the color technician is pushing to do both front teeth now with zirconium base crowns to make sure the color is right.

I would rather not sacrifice anymore of my healthy tooth for color. Shouldn't the ceramic color technician be able to match a veneer and zirconium base crown with a new veneer better than before? What should I request?

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broken tooth discoloration

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6 Doctor Answers | Asked by KarenMalesky in Lemoore, CA

Doctor Answers (6)
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"Layered E-Max".

Karen,ask them to do crown out of "Layered E-Max". You will get better color match . I beleive that Zirconia is too opaque. It all depends how dark is the tooth underneath the crowns. If you already have a crown don't worry about any more tooth being lost. It pretty much the same. Be well Dr.K.

Matching color between a veneer and a crown can be tricky.

Your experience with a color difference between you veneer and crown is not unusual. Many times veneer color can change because there is greater translucency as the thickness of the porcelain is different and the underlying "prep shade" becomes a factor in matching the color as well. Based on your experience with the veneer breaking, you may want to consider converting that veneer to a crown anyway. While I understand your concern about the need for some additional tooth... more

Gerry Curatola, DDS

4 reviews

Manhattan Cosmetic Dentist

Natural result for your crown and broken veneer

I strongly believe, the ceramist should use the material that works best in their hands. Having said that - Is the ceramist able to handle a difficult situation with a variety of materials. You might consider another opinion from a credentialed cosmetic dentist.

Different materials handle light differently

Different materials handle light differently. Close is the best you can hope for if you use a zirconia based crown. What I would do is make the crown out of feldspathic porcelain (the same porcelain as the veneer) and get perfect while keeping things conservative, the way you want it!

Different materials look different

Light interacts differently with different materials. If a crown was zirconium based and the veneer was not, it would be a challenge to get an exact match. It can look CLOSE, but not identical. If close is good enough, then different materials should be fine. If a perfect match is desired, then the ceramist is right.

Broken Veneer

Depending on your situation, it should be possible for the ceramist to match the two teeth. This is a tough clinical situation, however and is usually best handled by a master ceramist and experienced cosmetic dentist. While it may be necessary to prep the veneered tooth slightly, it should not require a full crown. Also, you should be willing to come back several times for shade try-in appointments. As a cosmetic dentist who handles these cases regularly, I charge more for them because I... more