Unhappy with Color of Veneers

Porcelain veneers are like fine china.  You can not ever stain them and the color will not change.  Once the porcelain is bonded to the tooth, you are not able to change this.  

Hopefully after a few days you will find that you love your veneers.  No dentist wants their patients to be disappointed or unhappy.  Give your smile some time to settle and then decide if you still think they are not white enough.  Re-hydration and getting use to something new takes time.

You ultimately will determine if they are white enough for you so try not to get upset.  Talk with your dentist and find a solution that works for both of you. 

Just so you know, underlying issues can take white veneers and make them seem less white-color of your tooth underneath, tetracycline stained teeth can gray out veneers and even the glue used to cement the veneers can change the color-all kinds of uncontrolled issues.  Assume your dentist will make it right and go from there.

it sounds like you were expecting your new veneers to be very white and that your dentist or ceramist were aiming for natural. Since you just had them placed yesterday, I would give it a few days to just get used to the color, THEN see how you feel about it.

I would also get the candid input from people you know who both have an eye for details and what would look good on you AND can tell it to you straight. You might be surprised to find that your friends might say it looks good on you-if you don't get stuck on bl1.

IF after a few days of cooling off you are still very unhappy, then I would call your cosmetic dentist's office and express your disappointment. Don't make it a confrontation-that rarely leads to a good ending in health care. 

It sounds like a few things could have been issues:


No one in the dental office really listened to what you wanted

You may not have expressed how white you wanted them in specific enough language

You and the cosmetic dentist ought to try-in the new veneers BEFORE cementing them to make sure the color matches everyones expectations. Preview the result before bonding it in.

You may have had temporaries that were unnaturally light, making it seem like your new porcelain veneers are darker than you wished.


This is a difficult situation. In order to get a happy ending, you and your cosmetic dentist will have to both put your emotions aside and be pragmatic about what is realistic to change (as well as the pro's and con's of making a change). Best wishes, Dr. Scott Greenhalgh, DDS