How White Should I Get my Veneers - What Shade Looks Most Natural?

Some patients have come in and asked for shades that are very much not natural, yet due to the talent of my ceramist at my lab, they still looked like real teeth.

Lumineers® tend to look monochromatic (one shade) which is not natural looking.  Ask for veneers that have at least 3 shades, and you can choose a VERY white shade and "get away with it".  An experienced cosmetic dentist can help with this.

The goal of esthetic dentistry is to mimic nature.  The general rule is teeth should not be whiter than the whites of your eyes.  Also, take your age into consideration. It's more natural looking for older people to have darker shades of teeth.  Whitening is a great way to remove stains and make teeth look white again, but don't go so far that your teeth glow in the dark. Best, Dr. Elizabeth Jahanian 

First, make sure you are seeing an experienced cosmetic dentist.  We work with master ceramists who are able to make porcelain look very bright yet also very natural.  Some people say to match the whites of your eyes.  I work out the shade in the temporaries.  I will use either a bright natural shade - or a whiter bleach shade.  Then I have my patients wear the temps for a week and see how they feel about the shade after a week.  This gives me a good basis for what shade the patient likes the most.  Then I build in many natural characteristics into the porcealin so that the end result looks like you grew them yourself.