Deciding on porcelain veneer color!! Any suggestions?

Question

I've searched around on the net at photos of completed smiles with BL 1 and BL 2. I've seen some with BL 1 but very few with BL 2. Can someone show me a link with BL 2 smiles. I'm getting eight porcelain veneers on my top teeth. My natural teeth are yellowish. Will this yellowish show through the veneer? If so, am I better going BL 1? Thank-you

Sarah Thompson, DMD · Answer

Hello there,When placing veneers on my patients, I always take into account their skin tone when selecting a veneer color.  This is very important!  For example, if you are a redhead with very light skin, then the whitest shade of white veneers will probably look great on you.  If you have very dark skin, then you typically want to come about 3 shades down from the whitest white, because your teeth will still look very white, but not like they're glowing.  When you place the whitest shade on people that have white skin, but not pale, then the veneers can still have an appearance of being fake.  It's more about what looks right with your skin shade.  The last thing you want is to appear like you have fake teeth because they're too white.  Any dentist can usually place a veneer, but not all dentists have the same cosmetic abilities, so it's always important to look at before and after photos of actual patients of the dentist you are considering, before selecting that dentist. This will give you a pretty good indication of what you can expect. Good luck and I hope this helps. Follow me if you have more questions.Sarah Thompson, DMDSt. Louis, MO area (O'Fallon, IL)Real Self 100

Ira Shapira, DDS · Answer

Picking  color from pictures will probably lead to disappointment.  When you have your provisionals you can evaluate shape length and width of teeth and also color of temporary.  The underlying color can be blocked out bu the doctor. Wear the provisionals for a few days and see what friends and relatives say if you don't day anything.  See who notices and who doesn't.  Get comfortable.  The whiter you make the uppers the more yellow your lower teeth will look in comparison..  If you have a light complexion you can usually handle a lighter color.  Same is true with light colored hair.  Same color can look too white in someone with darker complexion and darker hair.There are three aspects to color:  The Value or Whiteness of the color.  The opposite of value is the Grey level. .Example is if you have a can of blue paint you can add white paint and will have whiter and brighter blue paint.  The Whiteness is the value and the blue is the chroma.  When teeth have too high a vaalue you wash out chroma and can get toilet bowl porcelain white that usually gives an unappealing appearance.If your teeth are very yellow, it can be neutralized with red and blue to grey and then increased in value with white.the third measure is translucency, especially near the biting edge that can increase natural appearance.  The oposite of translucency is opaqueness.  Opaque is usually not as attractive but when teeth are extremely dark (severe tetracycline stain) sometimes translucency has to be sacrificesd to cover dark color.  Some people want slabe of white while others prefer having whiter brighter but still natural teeth.  Much of this is art and can be more dependent on lab than dentist.  The best dentists understand the concepts of Value, Chroma, Translucency.Remember, the goal is not white teeth but a beautiful glowing smile that reflects your personality and doesn't shout out "Look at my teeth"You want people to see your smile as part of your persona.Cosmetic Dentistry is done for you, not for anyone else.  Spend some time with the provisionals before final decision.

Mojgan Fajiram, DDS · Answer

it is very difficult to answer this questions, without seeing your other teeth and your skin color.  Since you're only doing 8, if you get the real white color, it probably won't match the rest of your teeth and then it looks fake.  Try bleaching your other teeth and and then choose the veneer colors.  Good luck.

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